..........Darlene's place........

2011-06-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

I made this card today to send to my son Cory. It's been a while since he got a card from me and knowing his passion for horses, I think he will like this one. He tends to appreciate the little details too, which is always nice.

I was inspired by an old Mojo sketch I found saved on my laptop, I guess I knew one day I would put it to good use.

Card Recipe...

Stamps: Brushstroke Horses, Bronc Buster by Stampin' Up!

Paper: Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel and Very Vanilla, all Stampin' Up!

Ink: Close to Cocoa and Prisma colored pencils.

Accessories: Hemp, Extra Large eyelets from WeRMemory makers, EKSuccess Border punch, Square Lattice Sizzix folder, Cuttlebug, Pattern Wheel, Sponge, Gamsol and paper stumps, distressing edge tool.

Thanks for stopping by!

Goin' Fishin'

2011-04-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

I just love Bella Stamps! This guy is so fun, he reminds me of my friend Kevin. Kevin is a Fishing boat Captain in the gulf of Mexico in Florida. Last time I was there on a visit we spent an entire day fishing...including SHARK fishing!... oh what fun that was! This image was colored using my Stampin' up! markers, then I trimmed him out and mounted him on cardstock. The card base was squished through my cuttlebug in a folder and the patterned paper and layers were cut using my cuttlebug and nestabilities dies. I added some fun fishy embellishments and hemp.

It's snowing here in Denver today. Yes, SNOW! Doesn't Mother Nature know it's mid April for crying out loud? :-) Although I would love to spend the day cuddled under the covers, I think I will spend some time in my craft space and create today instead.

Recipe:

Early Espresso, Soft Suede and Whisper White cardstock by Stampin up!

Circles, Rectangles and Deckled Rectangles Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Hemp twine, Fish embellishments, Stampin up! Markers. Fishafella image by Stamping Bella.

Biker chick

2011-03-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air here in Colorado, that means the motorcycle is out of the garage! Woot woot! I made the time to go for a ride a few days ago, that was the inspiration for todays card. Plus some encouragement from a dear friend to make time to stamp again. (Thank you Roger!) I just think this image from Hanna Stamps is so fun. Todays card was also inspired by a Mojo sketch I found a few days ago. I think I like how it turned out.

Stamps: Route 66 by Hanna Stamps, A Beautiful thing, Stampin' up!
Paper: Crumb Cake and Whisper White from Stamin' up! Patterned paper Linen Closet from DCWV.
Ink: Close to Cocoa Stampin' up!, C1, C5, C7, 100 Copics, Prisma colored pencils.
Accessories: Scor-Pal, foam tape, sewing machine, corner rounder, Soft Suede Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Up! Nestabilities scalloped circle die, Gamsol.

Flower pot

2009-02-04T05:54:00.001-08:00

Another cute image from CTMH. There are actually 3 little children in pots in the set. I will have to do something soon using all 3 of them. They are too cute! The sentiment is from the same set and it reads "There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again." The image is colored using Prisma colored pencils and gamsol, then cut out using a nestabilities die and popped up on dimentionals for depth. Thanks for stopping by today!

Recipe: Image and sentiment from CTMH stamp set Flower Child. Lovely Lilac and Whisper White cardstock from SU, Prisma colored pencils, Nestabilities die, Brads from Making Memories, Patterned paper from Glitter Mat stack, Corner rounder punch from SU, Pearls and Dimentionals.

Sunflower Child

2009-02-03T07:36:00.000-08:00

Isn't this just the sweetest little image? I had fun coloring this one with my SU markers. I guess old Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so we are supposed to have 6 more weeks of Winter, but I feel like doing spring cards anyway.
Thanks for stopping by today!

Recipe: Image from CTMH set Flower Child Framed with Nestabilities square die. Patterned paper from Paper trey. Corner punch and word window punch from SU, Markers from SU, Cardstock in Bashful Blue and Summer Sun and Whisper White from SU. Brads from Making memories, Cuttle bug and dots folder.

Magical moments

2009-01-22T06:10:00.001-08:00

This is another image from Whiff of Joy. Her name is Melinda. I was inspired to do this card by my Stamping Hero Anna Wight. I normally stay away from oranges for some reason. Maybe it's because I don't think anything really goes with orange. Ok, I know yellow and red, but really, I have never looked at orange as a workable color. Then I saw this card that Anna did on her blog (which I droll over daily) and I thought "Ya know, that's neat!" and decided to give orange a try. I think I like it! The patterned paper is from "The Scenic Route Paper Company." I've had it in my stash for nearly a year now. I picked it up in a tiny little scrapbooking store tucked away in Cortez Colorado (4 corners area) last time we were visiting my Grandpa down there. I fell in love with it at first sight even though I had no real idea what I would be doing with it. I'm happy I had it today! Does anyone else do that? Buy paper just because you like it then wait for inspiration to hit to use it? Or do you all think of something and then go find the paper to fit? I am guilty of both on some level, but I truly have HOARDS of patterned paper. Some of them are just so pretty! The sentiment is from SU Festive Favorites, I masked off part of the stamp to only use the words I wanted. Thanks for stopping by today!
Recipe: Melinda stamp from Whiff of Joy. Sentiment from SU Festive Favorites (masked), Really Rust, Whisper White cardstock, Scenic Route Paper Company patterned papers, Machine stirching, Sponging, SU Markers, Button from my sewing stash, Ribbon from Michaels, Dimentionals

Stock show is here!

2009-01-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

The National Western Stock Show is here in Denver. For 4 more days even. Let me just takea quick second to say that for those of you who don't know, I love all things western having grown up in Colorado doing the "horse thing". One thing I can say about when the Stock show is here is...Bring on those Wranglers! :::giggles::: This card was inspired by seeing all of these cowboys doing their thing while Stack Show is here. The stamp is just too fun. It's from the SU set Bronc Buster. The patterned paper is from Creative Imaginations. I picked it up in a little scrapbook store in North Little Rock last year when I was there visiting and finally broke it out. I LOVE it! The cardstock is all from SU. I sponged around the edges a bit to add some softness and of course more stitching. The paper piercing in the corners is fun to do and the one little brad gives it at least some embellishment.
Recipe: Real Red, Chocolate Chip and Creamy Caramel SU Cardstock. Chocolate chip ink, Antique brad by SU, patterned paper by Creative Imaginations, Maching stitching, Background stamp and main image from SU Bronc Buster.

Also, just have to post a picture of Joe (my son) performing at the Stock Show on Monday. This particular team is called The Riders of the Steppes. There are 19 boys on the team and they do some crazy things on and off their horses. This is a salute to the audience at the end of their performance....a pyramid on horses. I tell you, if you think this is easy...ask someone or give it a try! I am so very proud of what he does with the Westernaires. Proud of all of them! They practice all year long as a team to put on assorted shows for folks. It's great! Just in case you are wondering, Joe is the third rider from the left on the bottom. Thank you to Kris, the volunteer team monitor, for a GREAT photo!!

Cupcake fun

2009-01-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

Another Birthday card for one of my Daughters friends. She LOVES Cupcakes! Her Mom orders cupcakes every year for her birthday instead of a cake. She has cupcakes for parties at school and even has a Hoodie jacket covered in cupcakes! I think she might like this card just a smidge. I was at my local Archivers store a few weeks before Christmas and saw this patterned paper. It actually came in a mat stack called "The Sweet Glitter" mat stack. I couldn't resist! It's just fun. The image is from Hero arts and is colored using my SU markers. For a teeny bit of added bling, there is liquid glass on the swirls of the cupcake and tiny little rhinestones scattered on top. The stitching was done on my little machine...I just love the look. The sentiment is also Hero Arts and is mounted on Dimentionals to give it the "waving banner" look. The little glitter brad at the end of the sentinment is from Doodlebug Designs.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Recipe: Whisper White and Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Patterned paper from the Mat Stack, Liquid glass, Sewing machine, Hero Arts stamps, Glitter brad, Sponging, Tiny Rhinestones, SU Markers, Dimentionals.

Birthday Bella

2009-01-15T10:15:00.001-08:00

I made this card for the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS this week. I love my cuttlebug! This is one folder I didn't think I would use too much but had to have anyway (such a shopper I am I am!) I like it for this card though. This one is going out to one of my daughters friends. She LOVES blue. I think Buckaroo Blue qualifies...it's still my favorite even though it's retired! And chocolate cake, does anyone not love chocolate cake?!? I colored the Bella image using Prisma colored pencils and gamsol. The image is popped up on dimentions for fun. The stitching is machine done and ribbon is from my left over Holiday stash.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Recipe: Creamy Caramel, Buckaroo Blue and Whisper White cardstock, Stazon black, Prisma colored pencils, machine stitching, paper piercer, ribbon, antique brads, cuttlebug and Birthday folder, dimentionals.

Boatloads

2009-01-08T07:54:00.000-08:00

I just love how this little guy turned out. I finally broke down and bought this Boatloads of Love stamp set for SU and I am so happy I did. Even though it's a very large image (when you use the tug too) and doesn't leave a lot of room for embellishments and the like, I don't think it really needs a lot of extras. The little puffs are up on dimentionals and there is liquid glass on the waterline. Thanks for stopping by today!
Recipe: Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White cardstock, SU markers for coloring, Patterned paper is from Kelly Panacci, liquid glass, dimentionals.

Miss You Charlie

2008-12-30T15:11:00.001-08:00

Charlie Horse is back! I just love this little guy.
This time I made this card for a friend who has moved, but it also ended up fitting for the Featured Stamper challenge over at SCS. What fun it is to see what other people do and come up with some things on my own. The image is colored using my SU markers and he is sewn, mounted, sewn some more and mounted again. The cuttlebug is fantastic at spicing up plain backgrounds, so that what I did for this card.
Thanks for stopping by today.

Recipe: Bashful Blue and Creamy Caramel cardstock, Patterned paper, Charlie stamp and sentiment from Clear Dollar Stamps. Cuttlebug folder, Nestabilities die, Silver brads, sewing machine.

Tulips

2008-12-26T08:30:00.000-08:00

Aren't these tulips just beautiful? I love tulips, I wish they would bloom longer in the spring! I made this card for the Limited Supply Challenge over on SCS today. The challenge was to make a card that had no Holiday theme, red, green, snowflakes...you get the idea. I think this card works! The image is stamped on vellum and then colored using my Prisma colored pencils and Gamsol. I was a bit nervous doing this technique on vellum, I didn't know how it would work. Would it all smear, take forever to dry? You know those kinds of things. Well, it worked out really well. So I am happy with the result. I hope you like it too! Thanks for stopping by today.

Recipe: Marigold Morning, Lovely Lilac cardstock from SU. Vellum and patterned paper from my stash, Eyelets are from Making Memories, Sheer purple ribbon is out of my ribbon box (who knows where it originally came from!) Itty Bitty Backgrounds stamp set from SU. Tulips image was a RAK.

School Girl

2008-12-24T10:32:00.001-08:00

I got this image in a RAK. It's from High Hopes stamps and I looked her up, "School girl" is how you can find her there. I colored her using my SU markers and a few colored pencils and Gamsol. She is mounted and stitched all up for some extra "something".
Thanks for stopping by today!
Recipe: Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana and Whisper White cardstock. SU Markers, Prisma Colored Pencils, Gamsol, Cuttlebug and Folders, Sewing Machine, Tiny rhinestone.

Matthew

2008-12-22T07:06:00.001-08:00

This is just the sweetest image. I Love all things Whiff of Joy. They have some fantastic images. There is just something "innocent" about this one, I think. I made this card for the Featured Stamper Challenge over at SCS. This is the one challenge that I promise myself I will get to each week. I try to do a lot of them, but this one is a MUST! This week the Featured Stamper is Paula Tracy. If you don't know her work, you can find her blog right here. She does some crazy amazing things with her Colored pencils and Gamsol. This is the newest technique I am trying to learn. I can tell you that I visit her blog often (with a bib on) to drool and marvel at her talent. This image is colored using some SU markers, some Prisma colored pencils and some SU Markers. I think I really like how it turned out. The picture doesn't show it very well, but his wings have the slightest amount of shimmer thanks to my Sparkle gel pen. Thanks for stopping by today!
Recipe:
Matthew From Whiff of Joy Stamps, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White crdstock. Patterned paper from my "Once in a lifetime" paper stack. Brown ribbon from my stash, Square Brads from Making Memories, Glitter Gel Pen, SU Markers, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol.

The Mom song

2008-12-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

My friend Marcia sent me this video. After watching it 3 times I decided it was too good not to share. Hope all of you Moms (and Dads and kids) enjoy it!

The Mom Song from Northland Video on Vimeo.

Melting Snowman

2008-12-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

Help me, I'm melting!! Oh wait, that's a different story. Well, this little guy is melting too! He's so stinkin' cute though. I made this card for the Limited Supply Challenge "Holiday Blues" over at SCS. It went together pretty quickly after I got all of the pieces figured out. Thanks for stopping by today! Have a FANTASTIC weekend!

Recipe Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue and Whisper White cardstock, Tags & more, Frosty, All Year Cheer1 SU stamp sets, Silver Brads, White Ribbon, White Embossing powder, SU markers

Snow Swirled

2008-12-18T06:02:00.000-08:00

Do you ever get this idea in your head for something, you go about trying to create that something and by gosh it turns out not to look at all like you thought it would? That's what kinda happened with this card. I think the only thing that ended up looking like what was in my head was the stamps used and the color scheme. I have decided that I like it though. I made this layout for the sketch challenge over at SCS. It's nice to play along, then I don't overwork my brain trying to come up with "layout" for my card. I have decided I really like Blues and Browns this year for Christmas, so that's what I used.
Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe: Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel adn Whisper White cardstock,Close to Cocoa ink, sponge, ribbon from my "stash", SU Snow Swirled stamp set, Martha Stewart border punch.

Snowflake Santa

2008-12-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

This was an easy peasy card to make for sure. I did this one for the card sketch challenge at SCS. The santa is patterned paper, the snowflakes are made by me but inspired by Anna. You can see her wonderful snowflakes on her blog here. They are made by using Martha Stewart snowflake punches, then smeared with glue and dunked into this fantastic chunky glitter called Diamond Dust. I found mine at Michaels, but I hear you can get it on ebay too. I can tell you that I bought a small jar of it and it's going to last me decades! The snowflakes are then mounted on top of a snowflake image from the SU set Snow Swirled.
The effect that it has on the snowflakes is just so neat. I tried to get a close up of the snowflakes for you. As with most everything else, the pictures just don't do the actually thing any justice at all.
Thanks for stopping by today!

Recipe: Creamy Caramel Cardstock, Patterned papers from Hobby Lobby's "A Country Christmas" pack. 1 1/4 inch SU Circle punch, Martha Stewart Snowflake punches, antique brads, Sponge, Close to Cocoa ink, SU Snow Swirled Stamp Set.

Wanted

2008-12-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

There is just something about this image that makes me want to shout "Yes! Yes! You can come and take me now!" *giggle* It's from my favorite stamp set of all time, SU's Wild Wild West. Cowboy images come and go and this is still my favorite by far. I made this card for the Featured Stamper challenge over at SCS. You can check out all of the details of this challenge here.
The image is colored using chalks, he's double mounted on patterned paper and then cardstock with sponging done on all layers to soften the edges. The "wanted" is pierced and also double mounted. The twill ribbon is one of my fav's for western cards. I picked some up a few years ago at a scrapbooking expo. I wish I had bought 10 times as much as I did. I hoard it and use it sparingly now for fear of one day running out! Thanks for stopping by today. It's -4 degrees here right now without the wind chill factored in! Thank goodness for my furnace!

Recipe: Sage Shadow, Close to Cocoa cardstock, SU patterned Paper, SU wild Wild West and Wanted stamp sets, SU chalks, Star Punch, Twill Ribbon, Star brads from The Paper Studio, Cuttlebug with Swiss Dots folder, Paper Piercer, Sponge, Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa inks.

Brayered Wolf

2008-12-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I am finally taking the jump to use my brayer. It's one of the very first tools I bought when I attended my first SU workshops and it's pretty much sat in my desk taking up space since. So, this week for the Featured Stamper challenge over on SCS I noticed that there were a ton of brayer projects in Anna's gallery. I figured I would give it a go and I am so happy I did! I really like the look of this card. I started with plain white cardstock, added lots of inks via the brayer and some sponges, an image and sentiment and poof...cool card!

Recipe: White, Pumpkin pie and Chocolate Chip cardstock, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, More Mustard, Summer Sun and Pumpkin Pie ink, Nature's Silhouettes SU stamp set, Brayer, Sponges, Square brads from Making memories.

REALLY big one...

2008-12-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

Isn't this the cutest image? He's a Bella Fella! His official name is Fishafella, But I am going to call him Kevin. I have a very special someone, Kevin, who used to live here but moved to Florida to become a fishing boat Captain. Oh the life! So, in his honor (And because he left me a comment a while back that said "still no fishing cards!") I made this one. For the record, the sentiment does NOT mean he ever told me a fish story *giggle* I colored him with SU markers and did some sponging around the image, sentiment and layers. The sentiment is up on Dimentionals like the image but I bent the cardstock just a tad around my finger and then mounted it so there is a bit of space...kinda like a banner. The patterned paper is more of that Bohemian line I am just LOVING!! I need to go buy some more while I can still get it and stick it in with the others I just hoard. :-)
I have also learned that when attaching patterned paper to my cardstock that has been through my cuttlebug, it doesn't always want to stay, so I used sticky strip. No way this card is coming apart! Thanks for checking in today.

Does anyone have the Fishing Santa from High Hopes?

Recipe: Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery and Very Vanilla cardstock. SU Markers, Cuttlebug with Dots folder, Brown thread for sewing machine stitching, Bohemian Patterned paper, Celery ribbon, sponge and Chocolate Chip ink, dimentionals.

Belt and Buckle

2008-12-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here's a card I made for one of my daughters friends. She collects belts. I think she must have about 40 of them! Can you imagine? I don't have 40 anything! Oh wait, I am a stamper huh? I guess I can relate on some level then. There are the stamps, inks, markers, patterned paper, cardstock, embellishments...ok ok ok I can relate. *giggles*
I like how this one turned out. The belt and buckle are from the CTMH set Lovely Buckles. The sentiment is from the set Follow Your Dreams I just LOVE the paisley background made with my cuttlebug! There are tiny little dots of Glitter in the centers of the flowers, but I couldn't get them to show in a pic very well. The sentiment is stamped on glossy cardstock that I sponged a bit of color on to. I colored the buckle with my SU markers. Finally, the belt and buckle are up on dimentionals for height. Thanks for checking in today!

Recipe: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Glossy white cardstocks. Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa ink. SU Markers, Antique brads, Cuttlebug and paisley folder, sewing machine stitching, glitter, dimentionals.

Heart Attack!!

2008-12-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

Below is a video of my son, Joe riding his horse today. This is a little squeamish if you have a low tolerance for watching people in precarious hurtful positions, so only watch it if you can handle this. Let me preface this by telling you a bit about what's going on. My son Joe and his friend Drew had their horses out and while Drew's horse had a saddle, bridle and all on, Joe's horse simply had the lead rope wrapped around his (the horse's)breast. NOT the smartest thing to do at all! The plan was for Joe to ride to the opposite end of the arena, and Drew would come and be his "pick up man" like in the Rodeo. Well, as you can see in the video, Joe starts down the arena and Drew quickly follows, things are going just fine until Joe's horse hits the rail at the opposite end of the arena (If you listen to the video, you can actually hear the "crash" sound as this happens.) This knocks Joe off balance and as he tries to right himself, Drew rides along beside him so Joe decides to bail off his horse and onto Drew's. Again, just like in the rodeo. What happens next is NOT like the rodeo though. He misses the cantle (back of the saddle) on Drew's saddle and falls sliding face first into the dirt at a bit of speed. The momentum drives his face into the dirt and his body is carried over his head...kinda backwards! Needless to say, a body is NOT supposed to move this way. Can you say "MOMMY HEART ATTACK" time?!?!?!!? Last year he accomplished this exact same maneuver at a show and was taken from the show in an ambulance with lights and sirens because the paramedic on scene thought he might have broken his neck. Obviously he hadn't, but he was not a happy camper when he couldn't ride for a few weeks and had to spend some time in a C-collar to immobilize his neck. This time I think maybe his neck is already stretched out a bit because we did not have to call an ambulance and he doesn't seem to be seriously hurt. Only the persistent headache that I am sure he will have for a few days. Gosh, it was an eventful day!!!! I tell you, I could go without these ones. I think playing "rodeo" is off or a while.

Pa rum pa pum pum

2008-12-06T06:57:00.001-08:00

I just love the Little Drummer Boy Christmas Carol. I find myself walking around humming it for hours and hours after I've heard it or seen a reference to it. Just catchy, don't you think? I believe it's quite humbling too.
I just love these patterned papers. I am just a patterned paper junkie. I was visiting one of my favorite blogs, Judy! She has this post about hoarding designer papers and it just cracked me up as I was reading. It seems I am not the only patterned paper junkie! You can read her post here. This card layout was from a sketch over at SCS. The image was colored using SU reinkers and an aqua painter. Thanks for cheking in today! Have a GREAT weekend!

Recipe: Really Rust and Very Vanilla cardstock, Wassil patterned paper by Basic grey, Sponge, dimentionals, reinkers and aqua painter.

Cardinal Christmas

2008-12-05T05:56:00.000-08:00

So here's my second card for the card sketch challenge over on SCS this week. I like this one better I think. The picture was a pain though! I couldn't get it to pick up the embossing folder with the flash so I had to opt for no flash to see the detail but now it looks kinda yellowish. Anyone know how to fix this problem? I would LOVE to hear the solution. :::update::: ohhhhn so Carol Jones came to my rescue about this picture. This is her newer edited version. Thank you Carol!!
Ok, on to the card. I used my cuttlebug for the background on the panels. I am just loving that thing. Adds such dimention to things. Everything was colored using my SU markers. Isn't that ribbon too cute? I found it in my stash and there was only about 3 feet of it on the roll. I have no idea where I got it, but if I find more I will buy it again. Thanks for checking in today.

Recipe: Whisper White and Real Red cardstock, SU markers, A Flower For all Seasons stamp set for SU, Ribbon from my stash, Scalloped square punch, cuttlebug and snowflake folder.

Black and White Snowflake?

2008-12-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

A black and White snowflake? Hmmmmmm not so sure I like this one. I liked it in my head but when I actually made it, I think it's a bit much to have a black, gray and white Snowflake. Don't you think? I made this card for the Card Sketch challenge over at SCS. I got into my daughters glitter stack for the papers. I really like them all, they are so shimmery, glittery and fun! The snowflake is made from punches and inspired by Anna. If you check out her blog today, you can see the crazy eggs her chickens are laying. What a hoot...I mean cluck!
I definately must make another card for this challenge though, so watch for a seond post today. It's snowing here and I learned this morning taking my kids to school that the car I bought in June doesn't do so well in the snow. I just have to get used to it I suppose. I grew up here so I know HOW to drive in the snow. I think I will just stay home today and stamp though :-) So, check back!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe: Basic Gray, Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock. Patterned papers from DCWV Glitter stack. SU Silver Brads, Ticket Punch, Assorted Snowflake punches, Diamond Dust glitter.

Christmas snowflake

2008-12-03T06:14:00.000-08:00

Ohhhh I am just loving this snowflake! It's so very pretty in person. I was totally inspired by my stamping hero Anna Wight to make this. She has the most amazing snowflakes on her blog. Check them all out here. For my snowflake I used 3 different snowflake punches. It took some time to make simply because the glue needed to dry, but the end result is definately worth the wait. The sentiment is embossed with clear powder and of course I got my cuttlebug folder out for this one. The snowflake punch along the bottom just seemed to be the finishing touch for this one for me. Especially since I didn't stitch or add ribbon to the card. I think I am going to be making many more of these before winter is over.
I might even have to decorate some very special Christmas Gifts with them. Don't you just LOVE the Holiday Season? What are you making for the Holidays? I would love for you to leave me a comment with a link to your work so I can see what you are up to (and so can everyone else who reads them). Thanks for stopping by today!

Recipe: Bashful Blue and Whisper White cardstock, Bashful Blue and Versamark inks. Clear embossing powder, Martha Stewart Snowflake and border punch Baby Blue button, white thread, cuttlebug and snowflake folder and of course the Diamond Dust Glitter.

Robin's Grad

2008-12-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

Here's the last of the first 3 images that Robin (my son's girlfriend) drew for me. I don't know anyone graduating this year, so I will be giving this one back to her. She is in High School, so I am sure she has a friend she can give it to. Everything is outlined with my glitter pen. You can't see it in the picture, but it's quite festive in person. I colored the image with my SU markers. A simple card for me.

Recipe: Apricot Appeal, Sage Shadow and Whisper White cardstock, Vellum patterned paper, White ribbon from Michaels, SU Markers, Gelly Roll Glitter pen, Clip.

Pink Melinda

2008-11-30T07:26:00.000-08:00

So I just love all things "Whiff of Joy". I was RAKed this image (5 of them!!) from Janet Rossi over to SCS. You can buy this image here. I decided to use this one for the featured stamper challenge today. You can find the details here. I was out yesterday shopping with my daughter after Westernaires. I had a few archivers coupons that were going to expire :::gasp!::: So we simply had to go use them. I got my free cardstock, of course. Then my daughter layed her eyes on a new glitter stack. It was all over after that. No need to shop around, nothing more to look at, that was what my coupon was going to be used for. So, when I saw the challenge this morning, I just had to borrow some of her new stack of patterened paper. She said it was "ok, because I really like your card Mommy." Yea, at 13, she still finds it in her heart to call me "Mommy" once in a while. She's my sweetie! I colored the image using my SU markers and also some colored pencils blended with Gamsol (loving this!) Her wings are shaded in with my Glitter Pen. They are all shimmery in person. Thanks for stopping by today!
Oh! It's the last day to leave a comment for my blog candy, so don't forget!

Recipe: Pretty in Pink cardstock, watercolor paper. SU Markers, prisma colored pencils, gamsol, Brown polka dot ribbon from RibbonFX, Patterned paper from DCWV Glitter Stack, Gelly Roll glitter pen.

Robin's Umbrella

2008-11-29T06:15:00.000-08:00

Here's another image drawn for me by Robin. She's goooood isn't she? :-) I just love this little umbrella with the raindrops falling to make a puddle. I used glossy accents on the raindrops so they look wet in person. The image is colored using my SU markers. I can't wait to see what she draws for me next! I will get to see her today, so maybe I will have more images to play with. Of course I can't neglect my stamps! Ok, I have to neglect some of them some of the time simply because I have so many stamps and so little time! But I will get them inked up again soon. This card I also did for a challenge over at SCS. Here's the rest of the gallery for this challenge. Have a fantastic Saturday! Don't forget about leaving a comment for blog candy. I will announce a winner tomorrow evening.

Recipe: Perfect Plum and Sage Shadow SU cardstock, SU markers, Little jewels are form Doodlebug designs, Ribbon from Mchaels, Ticket punch, scalloped punch and Oval punch from SU, Patterned paper from Once in a lifetime.

Robin's Boot

2008-11-28T13:26:00.001-08:00

So my son Joesph, who is 15, has a girlfriend, Robin. They have been "dating" for almost 2 years now. A long time when you are 15. She likes to draw. I asked her to draw me a few things that I could use for cards or scrapbook pages and she handed me 3 little pictures on Wednesday night after I rode her home from our house on the Harley. (woooo-hoooo!!)This little boot was one of the pictures. I told her that if she drew things small enough for me, I would make cards out of some of them. So, here's the first one. I colored the image with my SU markers, added some brads, a silver Cowboy hat and faux stitching and poof! Pink and brown cowgirl boot card.
Thanks for stopping by today. Don't forget to leave comments for my blog candy giveaway! This layout is also a sketch over at SCS. Keyword SC204.

Recipe: Pretty in Pink and Close to Cocoa cardstock, Patterned paper by Paperie, Silver brads by SU, Silver cowgirl hat charm from Making Memories, Paper piercing tool, SU markers

Howdy Charlie

2008-11-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

I just love this little horse, Charlie. This is my first attempt at coloring with colored pencils and gamsol. I kinda like how it turned out. Of course I need years and years of practice to get really good. (looking forward to the practice!) This card is being sent to a friend who can use a friendly "howdy" about now. I hope it cheers her right up!

Recipe: Buckaroo Blue cardstock, Patterned paper by My Minds Eye, Hemp twine, Brads with photo holders from Making memories, Square brads by Sugarloaf, Charlie Image by CDS and the Howdy is by Lizzie Anne Designs.
Don't forget to leave a comment for blog candy!!

With all Thy Heart and BLOG CANDY!

2008-11-25T06:46:00.000-08:00

This image is from CTMH from the set Raccoon and Friends. I LOVE this set. There is this deer, a raccoon (of course) a Bald Eagle bust, a pair of bear cubs and a fantastic mountain landscape. I will be doing plenty more with this set for sure. I love most things naturey. (is that a word? lol) The sentiment is also from CTMH. This card is a 6x6, not a common size for me, but I am letting it grow on me. I used some paper from My Minds Eye from the Bohemia collection. I think it might be my new favorie line....for now anyway. It's just stunning. It's double sided too! The image is stamped in Chocolate Chip and then colored with pencils and blended with Gamsol. This is a technique I learned from my hero Anna. She's just the very bestest at coloring. You can see her blog and fall in love with her work HERE. She even has tutorials!

Recipe: Chocolate Chip cardstock. My Minds eye Bohemia patterned paper. Chocolate Chip ink, sponge, paper piercer, prismacolor colored pencils, gamsol, paper stump, ribbon from my stash, silver brads, square card.

Now for the BLOG CANDY!! Since this is the time of year when we are Thankful for so much, I wanted to spread the sharing. One lucky winner will receive the following... Stampin up cardstock in Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa and Ruby Red. Full packages of each. Also 2 stamp sets! A Flower for all Seasons and also God's Blessings. And as if that weren't enough, I am also adding a jar of Dazzling Diamonds and a Stardust Gelly Roll pen to add some sparkle to your life. To be entered into the drawing for the blog candy, just leave a message on this post or any other posts I do through the Thanksgiving weekend. I will draw a winner on Sunday evening.
Also, as a bonus, well, it won't get you a bonus entry here or anything, but as a bonus for yourself and someone else, please take a minute to go post something nice on someone else's blog too. We all love to get comments and it would make someones day if you'd let someone know you appreciate their work. Have a GREAT day!

Kathy's Charlie

2008-11-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

So I was sitting at my desk in my crafty room this morning just kinda poking around, looking through some stamps and wondering what to do today. My daughter walks over and sees my collection of the Charlie stamps from CDS out on the desk. She says to me "Mom, how come you always make Charlie a boy horse? Can't SHE be a girl horse?" So, I decided I would make her a girly Charlie Horse card and this is what I came up with. She picked the colors Gray and Pink and then left. So, I decided the sentiment, image and ribbons all went good together. Now she says she wants to hang it on the wall in her room. Girls are so corny!

Check back tomorrow for some BLOG CANDY!!!

Recipe: Charlie Horse stamps, Charlie horse sentiment. Basic Grey, Regal Rose and off white watercolor cardstock. Grey Cipic markers, Regal rose marker for "her" cheek. Sponge, Cuttlebug with Paisley embossing folder. Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, Pink Polka-dot ribbon from my stash, White Gel pen, Glitter gel pen.

Celebrateabella

2008-11-19T06:04:00.001-08:00

This image is officially called "WinoBella" But I think that makes her sound like a lush, so I am calling her CelebrateaBella instead. I made this card for the Featured Stamper challenge over at SCS. I think she is pretty, all decked out at her Christmas party. The wine glasses and bottle have glittery stickles all over them. I don't think the picture shows it too well, but they are very sparkly. Shes colored in using my SU markers. and glitter gel pen. Overall a very simple card.
Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe: Real Red, Creamy Caramel and Whisper White cardstock, SU Markers, Stickles, Glitter gel pen, Real Red and Creamy Caramel ink, Snow Swirled and Lots of Thoughts stamp sets from SU, Silver ribbon from my stash, dimentionals, and finally SU punches 1 1/8, 1 1/4, 1 1/2 and scalloped circle.

Bella is back

2008-11-18T19:59:00.000-08:00

If you follow my blog, then you know how much I love my Bella images. She just says so much in her nice little flirty way. This card is made as part of as SCS Challenge. I think this must be one of those images where someone was peeking into my window for inspiration. I mean, I am often sitting at my desk on my computer. Of course, my hair rarely looks like that, I don't own anything yellow, I am not near that skinny and my desk will not EVER be that organized. But take away all of that and you have me! :-) This color combination I have decided would be well suited to a baby card, but for now Bella gets it. I colored the image with my SU markers.

Recipe: Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Creamy Caramel, Barely Banana and Whisper White cardstock. Blue shimmery ribbon from my stash, Cuttlebug and Embossing folders. SU Markers

Family Traditions Recipe Book

2008-11-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

I don't remember where I got the inspiration for these, they are not my original idea though. Of course not, recipe books, and wire bound ones have been around for ages! All of the women in my family are getting one for Christmas (those of you who read this blog, just forget about this post :::giggles:::) I thought it would be areally neat idea to make each of us one, every one of them a tad different but basically very similar. This fantastic paper if from Making Memories. It's called "Fa La La". It's a nice line with many patterned as well as solid papers to chose from and it's double sided!! Talk about a cinch to coordinate. These books are 6x4 inches not counting the tabs. I bought the chipboard from Creative Imaginations and just covered them. I made the tabs using my SU tab punch and then wrote the categories on the tabs. They are main dishes, Soups and Gravies, Breads and Stuffing, Side Dishes and Desserts and gifts.

Each page has a pocket i it that will hold the recipe cards. I am including a few of my very favorite Holiday recipes and hopefully we will all exchange more as time goes on. My Wonderful Mother-in-Law makes these amazing litte pecan tarts every year and send us a big tin full of them. We often argue about who they were really sent for as she never labels the gift. Someday I hope she will share that recipe with the rest of us. Anyway, Each pocket page should hold 6 or more recipes easily because the pockets are expandable. My engineer minded Husband helped me come up with how to do that. The whole book is bound with a Bind-it-all.

Recipe: Creative Imaginations chipboard postcards, Making memories Falala patterned paper, Making Memories antique Christmas tree brads, FaLaLa huge brad, Scalloped oval punches in two sizes, sewing machine and white thread, sticky strip, SU cranberry ribbon. Celery and tan ribbon from my stash, SU Tab punch, black pen, Bind-it-all 1 inch black Bind-it-all wire, Blank recipe cards.

Final In-Law pumpkins

2008-11-14T07:12:00.000-08:00

Let me just say that I LOVE my nestabilities! They add so much to a card with so little effort. This is the last pumpkin card going out to my In laws this Thanksgiving. Your turn now Doris, seem surprised when this comes in the mail! The pumpkins were colored using my SU markers, the leaves are heat embossed with clear powder and the background is a cuttlebug folder (LOVE those too!)

Recipe: So Saffron, Whisper White, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip cardstocks, SU markers, Nestabilities folders scalloped cirle and scalloped oval, Cuttlebug and Cuttlebug folder, Ribbon from stash, sponge, chocolate chip classic ink. Thourogly Thankful SU stamp set. Clear embossing powder, embossing gun, versamark ink. CTMH set Autumn's Gifts.

More Pumpkins

2008-11-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

Here's another card I made using that same CTMH pumpkin image. It's really a nice image. This card is going out to one of my Brother-in-laws. Ed, if you see this, pretend that you didn't! I think this one is a tad masculine. It's hard for me to come up with masculine cards for some reason. I always want to add sparkle, glitter or pretty ribbons to my cards. According to my Husband, those are not masculine things. ::sigh:: Of course I guess a man would know huh? :-) I just love the fall!

Recipe: Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White cardstock. Fa La La patterned paper, Double sided ribbon, Sewing machine with dark brown thread Rectangle Nestabilities, Cuttlebug. SU Markers, Sponge, Dimentionals, SU scallop punch. CTMH set Autumn's Gifts.

Happy Veterans day!

2008-11-11T10:54:00.001-08:00

To all Veterans...
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Magical Christmas

2008-11-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

I am just loving this stamp set by CTMH called Magical Season. This tree os from that set adn I really like it a lot. I made 4 Christmas cards using this little guy. They are all different colors, some traditional and some not. I mean, how traditional is a teal or purple Christmas tree? Of course I don't always have to be traditional and in fact, am often not, so this just fits me.
These were actually pretty easy to make. I colored the tree and ornaments with my SU markers and added a bit of glittery gel pen for shimmer. The sentiment tags are up on Dimentionals and are a tad "wavy". I got that idea from...you guessed it...my FAV Anna. You can see her post about it here. I promise to get on with some of my own ideas and creations soon. There is just so much to be inspired by out here!

Recipe: Old Olive, Real Red, Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, So Saffron cardstocks. SU Markers, Glitter Gel Pen, Silver Brads, Teal Gems, Sewing Machine, White Thread, Nestabilities rectangle, sponge, Snowflake Cuttlebug folder, Clear Dollar Merry Christmas and CTMH Magical Season stamp Set.

Mom's pumpkins

2008-11-08T08:47:00.001-08:00

I must admit that I just LOVE how this card turned out! I have been inspired recently by my Stampiung Idol Anna Wight to play with some darker colors. She's been doing some fantastic things with vintage and darker looks lately. Check out her blog HERE! This pumpkin image is from the CTMH set Autumn's Gifts. I really like this image. It's one of the few that I took time to color last week while we were at the Westerniares Anual Show. The show was outstanding! Of course we had to be there from 8am until 9pm on Saturday and again from 9am to 5pm on Sunday because our kids are actually in the shows. There are 4 shows over the two days. It's the bestest! Ok, back to stamp stuff. Of course I had to take a tote bag (let's not talk about how BIG it was)full of stamp stuff with me so I would have things to do during the down times. I ended up not working as much as I thought I would since I was chatting and shopping and chatting some more, but I did manage to get a few images colored and this was one of them. I only colored the pumpkins at the show since I only had my SU markers, the rest of the shading I did this morning. Which is MUCH darker in person. Sometimes the flash just mutes the darndest things! I also added some sparkle to the image with my glitter pen (love that thing!)which you can see in the second picture. The sentiment is from SU stamp set A Beautiful Thing. It's stamped and then clear embossed for texture.
I decided as I was coloring this image and thinking about a sentiment that I am sending this card to my Mother in Law for Thanksgiving. If you see the Mom, act surprised later anyway!

Recipe;
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip. Ink: Stampin up Markers, Gel Glitter Pen, Buckaroo Blue, Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie. Other: Square and oval scalloped Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Folder, Sewing maching, Gold trimmed Ribbon, Brads, Clear embossing powder, Piercing tool, Dimentionals, Fiskars punch.

Blue Frosty

2008-11-04T06:15:00.001-08:00

Happy Voting Day everyone! I sincerely hope you are all voting today. And by the way, don't forget to vote for the right guy! :-)
For today's card I started with a base of Bashful Blue cardstock, added a layer of Basic Black and then another layer of Bashful Blue. The image is from CTMH. It's a set called Magical Season. You can see this and all CTMH current sets on my Friend Elisha's CTMH site here. The snowman is stamped in Jet Black Stazon and colored with SU markers. He's punched out using one of my Marvy punches, and then layered on another of the Marvy punches that was pierced around the edges.The sentiment Frosty is from the same CTMH set and punched with my Marvy punch again and then trimmed down to be the triangle in the corner. The background is tiny snowflakes from my SU set snow swirled, they are stamped in versamark. There are 2 layers of ribbon. The first layer is white on white polka dots topped with the black and white polka dots. Both ribbons are Michaels brand ribbon. The bling is all little rhinestones. The tiny clear ones around the snowman and sentiment were a gift from a friend. I got a baggie of them so I have no idea where she got them. The blue ones along the edge are from Me and my big ideas. This card idea is from my friend Becca, you can see her original version here. Check out her whole blog. It will leave you drooling!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

Witching you a Happy and safe Halloween!

Swirled Cranberry

2008-10-24T10:49:00.001-07:00

I totally cased this card from my friend Dawn Griffith. It's not exactly the same as hers, but pert near! I started with a card base in Whisper White, I used Cranberry Crisp (a retired SU color) and dazzling diamonds. The images and sentiment are from the SU set Snow Swirled. I also used the su punches Scallop Circle and 1-1/2 in circle punch. The cardstock is cut at 3-1/2 X 11 and scored at 5-1/2, It will fit in a standard size A2 envelope even! I punched the scallop circle out of the base card about half way through and then punched the cranberry Crisp using the scallop circle, placed the circle over the "hole" cut out of the base card and it makes this cutsie little tab that sticks out of the top of the card. Nifty huh? I wish I could take the credit, but instead I will just create with it. The snowflakes mounted on the Cranberry Crisp are on pop dots as well as one of the bigger snowflakes and there is gliiter all about. I had fun making this and am planning on many more colors and designs. Thanks for the inspiration Dawn!

Video Share

2008-10-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

My good friend Rochelle sent me this video in email this morning. Thank you Rochelle!
It touched me and I hope it touches you too.
Have a fantastic day!

Blue and Brown

2008-10-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

This is a card I made as a thank you for some Westernaires. It's a white card base, close to cocoa and bashful blue cardstock and some pretty blue paisley patterned paper from my stash. The horse and star images are from the SU set Wanted stamped with Chocolate Chip ink. The brands are from SU too. The "Lasso" is hemp twine. The stars are up on dimentionals.

Almost a 12-eener!

2008-10-19T18:45:00.001-07:00

I have been MIA for the last 4 days...and there's a reason even! :-)
I went hiking with my son. We went to this AMAZING place high up in the mountains. In fact, we were at Hassell lake, Colorado at an elevation of 11342 feet. OK, say it with me now..."That's over 2 miles high!!!!". Yea, I know...it was an outstanding trip! I took some pictures and decided to share them with you. This first picture is of the lake itself and the "peak" behind it. That peak by the way, is an officialy 12-eener. This picture was taken in the mid-morning and there was no wind (It got SUPER windy later in the day and into the night) the lake looked like glass. The reflection was just breathtaking. If you look hard you can see a rippling look at the edge of the lake. This is actually ice after the lake has sun for a few hours to melt some of it away. Just a few days before, there was ice over about 1/2 of the lake.
This second picture is Joe using a water pump/filter to fill our water bottles right out of the lake. Notice the snow on the ground? Brrrr! That water stayed so cold for so long! It was filtered, but looking at the lake you'd think you could just gulp handfulls of it. You could see so clearly into the water, we could see fish swimming 20 feet offshore. It's one of the most amazing places I have ever been.
I highly recommend taking some time to hike if you ever get the chance. This particular hike is considered "Very ddifficult" by the Colorado Trails community and I have to say I agree. The hike in from the trailhead is just over a mile to the lake, but you gain almost 1,000 ft in that mile. It's a "kick-my-butt" hike. This last picture is taken in the other direction towards another of the peaks around us. More ice on the water! You can see that as the elevation gets higher, the trees suddently dissappear. That's "tree line" here in Colorado. Officially 12,140 feet. The air is so thin, the trees don't get enough oxygen to even grow. It's a strange thing to be breathing and your body is saying to breath more because you aren't getting any air! :-) I actually ended up with a good case of altitude sickness for the first two days there. Now that I am home and feeling better I can say it was worth it. Altitude sickness is no fun though.

The bestest part was some great Mom/Son time.
I hope you like the pictures!

More from Linda's imagination!

2008-10-15T07:37:00.001-07:00

Ok, so we had our monthly "hostess of the month" club meeting this week at my friend Linda's home.
I tell you, it's a fantastic get-away time with the girls. She had some fun things for us to make. First is this cardinal card. I must admit that I wasn't too excited about this one at first, but as I made it, it grew on me..and no, not like a fungus! We started with a base card in Confetti White. We used the SU stamp set A Cardinal Christmas. We stamped the image in black and then used watercolor crayons and aqua painters to color. The berries were colored using a SU marker in real red and the beak is summer sun. The branches and his feet are chocolate chip.
After he was all colored we cut him out with scissors. Then we stamped the Holly bushes on the card and inside and used the marker to color the berries. The sentiment is from the same set. Then we took the SU punch Curly Label and punched it twice in the middle of the card. We did this by just sliding it in as far as it would go from both the left and right side of the card, it makes this nice frame so you can see inside the card and also leaves a window to mount the cardinal in. We then mounted him so that he fit over the window, stamped the images and sentiment inside and Walaa....cardinal window card.

This is a fun fall tile we made.
We started with a semi-dark colored tile. We used all stazon inks for this one. We first stamped the leaves all over the tile wherever we wanted them in Timber Brown ink. They are all from the SU set With Gratitude. Then we used our heat tool to heat set the ink. We found that if you do not do this the ink will smear, even after 24 hours. (Yes, Linda tried it!) So after we heat set the brown, we used a q-tip to add more colors. High tech stampers that we all are! We used Mustard, Rusty Brown and Olive green Stazon to color in our leaves. After we had successfully smeared on enough color using our fantasticlly effecient q-tip :::giggle::: we heat set that too. It takes a few minutes to heat set it. So if you try this, be patient. Once that was all set, we used a cotton pad (more high tech tools) and added the green around the egde of the tile and kinda whever we thought it needed some color. Then...you guessed it, we heat set that too. We added some felt feet to the bottm and ta-daa finished tile.
My kitchen just happens to be all green and brown and earthy, so this has already found it's way onto my counter top as a heat pad. They would make a great gift, I think.

Tagged!

2008-10-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it's now official...i've been tagged! My friend Ret tagged me...the wonderful person that she is! What this means is that I am supposed to tell you 6 things about me and then pick 6 people to tag also. Fun, huh?! :-) So in pondering the 6 things I have come up with some simple ones to share with you.
1. I love being married and being a Mom! My Husband, Mark is such a sweetheart and truly a gift in my life. My kids, well they are teenagers, so you know what I really want to say here :::giggle::: They are pretty amazing young people.
2. I am so thankful to have stamping in my life. Without it, I might not be saying my teenagers amazing young people!
3. I love Colorado! With 4 distinct seasons it's just an amazing place to be.
4. I enjoy reading. Right now I am reading two different series' and a book about faith journeys. Interesting stuff!
5. One of my favorite ways to pass the time is to go blog hopping! I have a large list of favorites and am so inspired by what people can do. I just sit and oogle, some days I even wear a bib to protect my clothes :-)
6. I am so very blessed to have a nice big handful of *close* friends who I love very much. Hi guys!! :::waving:::

Okay, theres a few things about me. Now let me see, who can I tag next??
Let's go with some of my favorite stampers...
1. Anna Wight, my favorite watercolor queen and inspiration!
2. Becca Feeken, she does wonders with her cuttlebug and punches!
3. Laurie Schmidlin, she gives attention to every single detail!
4. Paula Williamson , she just has an eye for mixing colors and and and...
5. Amy Sheffer, layers and layers and layers oh my!
6. Dawn Griffith, Dawn is a woman of faith and a daily inspiration for me. She is always SO happy!

Thanks, Linda

2008-10-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is a card I made at a Hostess of the month club with my Stampin up! Deomonstrator/friend Linda. So, she gets all of the credit for coming up with this one, I just stamped and put it all together. We started with a base card of Always Artichoke cut 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 NOT folded in half, just one piece, then added a torn strip of Really rust on the left edge. The actual part of the card that opens is a piece of Confetti Cream cardstock cut just a smidge smaller than a regular size A2 card, it's mounted onto the Always Artichoke piece so only the cream colored part of the card moves. The images are stamped in Really Rust and Always Artichoke. The flower is cut out and mounted using a dimentional with a pretty brad in the center. The images are from the SU set Wonderful You using the two step stampin technique. The sentiment "Thanks so much" Is from the SU set Sincere Salutations. There are a few corners out of Always Artichoke that are stamped with the same set.

Blog Candy Find

2008-10-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ohh Nikki is giving away blog candy, go leave her a comment and see if you can win some great things from high Hopes Stamps. Visit the designers blogs, they all have candy this next week. Their links are all on Nikki's page. Here's her link... http://bunny-zoes.blogspot.com/2008/10/candy-time-high-hopes-blog-hop.html
Good luck!

Halloween fun

2008-10-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a few cards I made for Halloween. They will go to Teachers in the middle school where my kids attend. I will need to make a few more, but this gets me started.
I wonder how I will decide who gets which card? Personality traits similar? Looks similar? LOL It will be fun deciding for sure. For the witch card I started with a base of Basic Black, added some fantastic patterned paper I picked up at Archivers. You can't tell very well in these pictures, but the green paper is all a-glitter. It's fantastic! I stamped the image on whisper White in Black Stazon. I colored her face and hair with my SU markers. I mounted the image on some Perfect Plum and also inked up the edges of the image in the Perfect Plum. There is a little Bat brad in one corner and some holes poked along the opposite corner. The witch is also outlined using my glitter gel pen so she glitters too. The perfect plum strip has some doodling in the same gel pen and dots poked all along. The Happy Halloween sentiment is stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed using silver detail powder.
I just love this little Frank image! He kinda has a look of "how-hum" to me. For this card I started with a base in Vintage Violet, added that same fantastic patterened paper that's all a-glitter, did the same bat brad and holes on the image too. I also added some smudges of Vintage Violet around the image so it wasn't so stark with the black against the white. I colored him with my SU markers. The strip of black is done the same as the witch card. The sentiment is stamped in black Stazon and then I went over it with my gel glitter pen so it's sparkly.
Gosh I just love a good Mummy!! This little guy is so cute! I started with a base cardstock in Creamy Caramel, added some "Strips" of very vanilla that are edged with a bit of Basic Brown and mounted to wrap the card front like mummy wraps. The image is stamped on Creamy Caramel using white craft ink. The edges are also white craft. The tiny little moon brad and holes on the opposite corner just add texture to the card. The image is mounted on a piece of Close to Cocoa. The sentiment is stamped in Basic Brown. Simple and too cute!

Another Go the Distance card

2008-10-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

Here was another one of the choices for my friend Monique. For this card I started with a base card in Regal Rose. Added a layer of Chocolate Chip then Whisper White, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White again. The bottom layer is stamped with the sirl from the SU set Wanted in Regal Rose and the sentiment was printed off my computer in dark brown with a swirl behind it in Pretty in Pink. The brads are from SU and the ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.

Torch card

2008-09-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

It's been decided. This is the officail card for the rertreat. I think it turned out pretty :-) I started with a base card in Whisper White, added a layer bashful blue that was put through my cuttlebug with an embossing folder. Then a layer of gold vellum followed by another layer of bashful blue and finally a whisper white layer with the image. All layers were cut and embossed using my nestabilities. The edges of the blue and white were sponged with bashful blue ink and the torch is embossed with dazzling diamonds to give it the "firey" effect. The picture doesn't show it very well, but it's all sparkly! The gold ribbon was purchsed at Hobby Lobby. Thanks for stopping by!

Go the Distance

2008-09-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

I made this card for my friend Monique. She is a National Sales Director with Mary Kay and is having her annual fall retreat here in the amazing Colorado mountains. Every year she picks a theme and asks me to make cards for her offspring Directors. This year her theme is "Go the distance, carry the torch". This was one of the cards that I came up with for her. I am not sure we are going to use this one, there are others to pick from, but I wanted to share. Monique actually carried the olympic torch when it came through Colroado. What an incredible honor for her and what an honor to know such a great woman.
For this card I started with a base layer of Very Vanilla then Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa and Creamy Caramel. The patterned paper is from SU designer series. I cut the circle with my nestabilities and embossed it. I also dusted the edges with Close to cocoa ink. The Mat for the sentiment is Close to cocoa dusted with Chocolate Chip ink around the edges. The sentiment is the chorus from the song "Go the distance" from the disney movie Hercules. Here's a link to see the video for this song on youtube...great song! The edge of the card is punched using a MS punch. Antique brads and some ribbon from my stash finish off the card. In case you are wondering, I am going to be at the retreat. It's fantastic :-)
Thanks for stopping by!

This little light of mine...

2008-09-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

This card has "cute factor" in my opinion. I started with a whisper white base card, covered the front with a layer of Brocade blue, a layer of Apricot Appeal and finally another layer of Whisper White. The background fireflies are stamped in versamark and embossed with clear powder. The image is From CTMH. The set is called Little Treasures...Cute! I stamped the jar and fireflies in black, Then colored them using my SU markers. Easy-peasy it was. I sponged some brocade blue around the edges to give it some color and outlined the jar in brocade blue too. I mounted the image on the apricot that I had punched a border on using my SU punch Scallop Edge. The ribbon is from my stash, no idea who made it.
Thanks for checking in today!

Blog Candy Winner

2008-09-13T16:46:00.001-07:00

The winner of my blog candy this time is...Tammy!
Please contact me via email so I can get this sent out to you.
Congrats!

Thoroughly Thankful

2008-09-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Todays card is another fall card. I started with a very vanilla card base and covered it with patterned paper. Then I added some corner frames in Creamy Caramel that are punched and framing another layer of patterned paper. Then a layer of Always Artichoke and finally on top of that layer is the stamped image on watercolor paper. The image is from the SU set Thoroughly Thankful. I was given that set by my friend Rochelle Hart. I am thakful to know her. What a fantastic soul she is. I colored the image using an aqua painter and SU reinkers. It's sponged with some close to cocoa and always artichoke to smudge up the image a bit. The I added some iridescent ice embossing powder and used my little glitter gel pen to add sparkle. You can't see it in the picture very well, but this card is quite sparkly!The ribbon was bought at my local Joann store and the "Sugar coated brads" are from Doodlebug Designs. Thanks for looking!

Scallop Giraffe

2008-09-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

Is this just the cutest little stinkin' giraffe ever?!? I think he is so cute. For this card I started with a base of Very Vanilla, added a layer of Chocolate Chip then a layer of Marigold Morning (retired now) that is stamped with the background stamp Weathered. (also retired)I used the ticket corner punch on the card and added some SU brads in the corners. Then I got out my cuttlebug, gosh I am loving this little machine!! I used the large Scalloped rectangle nestabilities to cut and emboss the rectangles in Close to cocoa and also the watercolor paper that the image is stamped on. The image is from Autumn Leaves Clear Stamps, the set is called Mindy's zoo. Cute I tell you, just cute. The giraffe is stamped in Black stazon on watercolor paper then colored using SU reinkers and an aqua painter. I dusted the edges of the rectangles with close to cocoa and chocolate chip ink using a sponge. I hand drew in the grass with my markers in certainly celery and always artichoke. The ribbon was the very last piece I had of this cute polka dot pattern. I simply must find that ribbon again. There is also a strip of Chocolate Chip card stock that I used the new SU scallop edge punch on both sides tucked behind the image to mount the ribbon on. I hope you like this card.
Now for the super fun part for you.....BLOG CANDY!!
I have pictured here the stamp set I used to stamp this little guy. It's a new one, not the exactly one. A new, Large rectangle Nestabilities set and a new black stazon ink pad. To be entered to win this candy, just leave a comment on this post. It can be about this post or another one on my blog. And so you don't have to wait weeks, I will have the random number picker thingy find me a winner this coming Saturday, Sept. 13th.
Thanks for stopping by!!

Elk Silhouette

2008-09-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

Ohhh I just love this card! I started with a base card in Chocolate Chip, added a layer of Really Rust. I stamped both with the little leaf from the SU set Lovely as a Tree. The little brown ribbon is from Michaels. I stamped the Elk on Vellum with Chocolate Chip ink and layered it over a piece of Very Vanilla stamped with the tree/grass image using a spectrum pad, both stamps are from the new SU set Nature Silhouettes. I stitched across the top and down one side attaching the two layers together and then added a few antique bronze brads on the opposite corner to hold the vellum down. The picture just doesn't do this card justice.
Thanks for checking out my blog today. Come back tomorrow for Blog Candy!

Blue Christmas

2008-09-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, so maybe it's a tad early for Christmas cards. But if you knew me, you'd know that I am usually scrambling at the very last second to come up with something and get it done for Christmas cards. This year, I decided to start early. I am sure I will make lots and lots of cards before I decide on which ones to send to the masses on my card list. This is the first of the season. I started with a base card in Whisper White. I then added a layer of Brocade Blue that I ran through my cuttlebug with a snowflake embossing folder. I stamped the "Seasons Greetings" sentiment right onto the Brocade Blue with Night of Navy ink. The image is stamped in White Craft ink on Night of Navy and then I sprinkled iridescent ice embossing powder all over it and then heat it up until it looks all glittery and shimmery. The picture really does it an injustice. I mounted the image on a piece of whisper white after I scalloped the edge with the SU scallop egde punch. The pretty baby blue ribbon is from my ribbon stash.
Thanks for looking!

Paisley Dahlia

2008-09-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

Oh I just love how this card turned out. I started with a base of Creamy Caramel and added a layer of Chocolate Chip that I used my cuttlebug and paisley folder to emboss. The tag was punched using the SU large oval punch, the sentiment is from the SU set One of a Kind stamped in Chocolate Chip ink. I used an excacto knife to cut slits in the tag for the ribbon I pulled out of my stash to thread through. The flower was made using the Wanted Designer Series paper from SU. My friend Dawn Griffith taught me how to make the flowers. I think I will be making more of these. My Husband even said "Now that's just neat!" :-) The large eyelet in the middle of the flower is from Making Memories.
I think it's neat, a simple card, but not really too simple with the flower. I just love the westerny (is that a real word?) feel of this. I am off to check out my favorite challenges and see what else I can do today after Church.
Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn's gifts

2008-09-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

This is my first official Fall card. I am a bit behind I think since fall is already knocking on the front door, but it hasn't actually snowed here yet, so maybe I am still ok :-)
I made this card to send to my friend Monique, I think she will like it. I started with an old retired green color (don't remember what it is called and my package isn't marked) then added a layer of Really Rust that I stamped images of a leaf on from the CTMH set Autumn's Gifts using versamark and then heat embossed them in clear. The circle is Pumpkin Pie and the pumpkin image (also from CTMH set Autumn's Gift) is also on Pumpkin Pie, both are cut using nestabilities then brushed around the edges with Really Rust ink. I used my Gelly Roll Stardust glitter gel pen to outline the pumpkin so it has a bit of sparkle. The ribbon is a really pretty gold color that I found in my stash and tied around. All Cardstock is SU, of course.

Blue Steer

2008-09-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Kathy, said this was her favorite card I have made in a month. A whole month!! I thought she would like the more playful (and pink) Charlie Horse ones, but noooooo. Guess she likes how this one turned out :-) I made this card for a featured stamper challenge over on SCS. I started with a base card of Certainly Celery, then added a layer of Buckaroo Blue (of course). The image is from my favorite stamp set Wild Wild West from SU! stamped on Very Vanilla in Basic Brown ink. It's colored using chalks and then cut out using a nestabilities. It's mounted on a piece of barely banana. The Certainly Celery and Buckaroo blue are stamped using the cowboy hat image from Wild Wild West and and versamark. The cowboy hats are embossed with clear powder on the blue. The ribbon is from SU and the antique looking brads are from my memory makers. Thanks!

Blue Biker Chick

2008-08-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

I just love the Biker Hanna image! I HAD to have her when I saw her. Especially since I ride :-) You can see all of the Hanna Stamps here.
For this card I started with Regal Rose as my base, addeed a layer of Pretty in Pink followed by a layer of patterned paper and then the image. The base card and pretty in pink layers are both stamped with a stamp from my itty bitty backgrounds set in Pretty in Pink ink. The image is stamped in Stazon and colored in with my SU Markers and a few Copics as well. I stitched around the edges and added some little rhinestones to the pretty in pink layer and also the front tire. The image is up on pop dots to add dimention. Have a FANTASTIC weekend!! Thanks for chekcing my blog today.

Pink Charlie

2008-08-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

Another Charlie card is here! I just love these images. I made this card for the featured stamper challenge on SCS.
I started with a base cardstock in Regal Rose, then embossed a piece of Pretty in pink using my cuttlebug and the paisley folder. Charlie is stamped with black Stazon onto watercolor paper and colored using my SU markers. I used my paper piercing tool for the borders of the Choclate Chip pieces and used my corner rounder on the pink. I also punches out the stars, 2 layers for each one and poked the little star brads through them. They are mounted up using pop dots for dimention. The ribbons are from my stash, probably bought at my local Joann store. I think that's it. He looks nice and happy to be jumping across my card! Thanks for checking in with me today!

Fenced in Charlie

2008-08-21T10:16:00.001-07:00

Charlie is back! I just love this little horse! For todays card I actually did a few challenges. One is from Beates inspiration challenge. The other from the SCS Featured Stamper challenge. I started with certainly celery cardstock for the card, added a layer of Pumpkin Pie then one of Chocolate Chip that I ran through a cuttlebug using the paisley folder. I also roughed up the edges of the pumpkin cardstock so it didn't look so "new" and did some sponging along the edges too with some Close to Cocoa ink. Charlie is from the stamp company clear dollar stamps (so is the sentiment) and is stamped on watercolor paper and then watercolored using SU reinkers and an aqua painter. The little frame around the sentiment is from my local Jo Ann store and that great barbed wire ribbon is some I bought at a Westernaires event a few years ago from a nice lady that had a scrapbooking/stamping booth set up at a show. LOVE IT!! As you can see, I did some more stitching around the edges of a few things. I think I like this card :-)
Thanks for checking with me today!.

Miss you Charlie Horse

2008-08-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

So I found this little guy at Clear Dollar Stamps. His name is Charlie...isn't that the greatest? He is SO adorable I had to have them all! Watch for more Charlie in my blog, I just LOVE him!!
I did this card for a challenge over at SCS. I started with a patterned paper by Paper Pizazz, then added a layer of denim looking paper also from PP. The Brown is Chocolate Chip from SU and the image is stamped in basic Black ink from SU on watercolor paper and then watercolored using SU reinkers and an aqua painter. The ribbon is from my stash, no idea where I got it. The image is from the CDS set Charlie Horse and the sentiment miss you is from the Charlie set Fenced in. I also stitched around the image a bit. Knowing how much I love western things I am going to spend many, many hours playing with this little guy.

Thanks for checking in with me today and make it a GREAT one!!

1st Place!!

2008-08-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

I just have to take a minute to brag about my daughter, Kathy. Both of my kids are involved in an orginazation called Westernaires. They do mounted drills on horseback "at speed" which means they move very, very fast! :-) My Daughter had a show this weekend, it's yesterday and today actually. She is on 4 designated teams in Westernaires as well as being a Junior instructor and Junior Wrangler. Anyway, 2 of her teams performed yesterday. They were actually performing for braggin rights, a place in the Westerniares History books as the winning teams and to be able to pose with the Director for pictures. A BIG DEAL for us all. There were 22 teams that performed yesterday. Can you say "loooong day"? :-) One of the teams she did was "Belle Star". Which is a fancy name for the girls whips team. Yep, a real honest to goodness official 10 foot bull whip. Yep, she actually cracks a bull whip with efficiency. She can knock a soda can off a fence post :-) Her Whips team took first place for their division! If that wasn't enough, the team she rode her horse for yesterday is called "Colorado Stampede" (we are in Colorado in case you didn't know) and her team took 1st place!!!! And as if that wasn't enough winning for the day, her whips team took the trophy for "sportsmanship" for the entire division! Can you just imagine how excited the girls on those teams were? She was flying high, suddenly not tired at all (even though we got home after 11pm) and just kept giggling and saying "I am so happy I worked so hard!" They practivce every weekend ALL YEAR LONG for this show. We are some pretty proud parents right now. This is a picture I took of my daughter as she came around a corner on her horse getting ready to "thread the needle" with her team. She's the one in the middle in focus.
Thanks for sharing with me this weekend.
Off to todays show!

Savvyshoppabella

2008-08-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

She's baaaack! Anyone who knows my love for Bella knew she would not be gone from my blog for long. This is a fun little simple card I made using the "savvyshoppabella" image. My 13 year old daughter looked at this card, asked me what she was called and when I told her she said "she looks like she is looking over her shoulder at you saying "uh huh, I had to shop some more!" :-) I think she hit it just right. For this card I started with Stampin up! cardsock in Certainly Celery, added some Perfect Plum around the image and the image, base card and scallop are Whisper White. She is colored with my SU markers and embellished with some white ribbon from my stash. The background is stamped in versamark with a few little purse stamps from my Hanna Stamp set "But I need it!" I love Hanna's too! Ohhhhh and I stitched around the image!! I love that look. Thank you Anna for inspiring me to go buy that little machine.
I am VERY excited about the new SU catalog and am placing my first order today. Whoooohooooo!! I wonder sometimes how people choose what to get first! That scallop punch for sure, but then what stamp sets? I wonder what it would do to my bank account to just buy a whole catalog worth...just once? I think it might give my Husband a heart attack! I'd better just pick and choose then, I kinda like him!
Hope you are having a GREAT weekend!
Thanks for looking.

Harmony

2008-08-16T05:40:00.000-07:00

This is a card I made for a sketch challenge I found. I started with a base patterned cardstock from Tres Jolie. Then I added a layer of perfect plum and then Marigold Morning, both from Stampin up! The image and sentiment are both from the retired SU set Happy Harmony. I used a cup from my cupboard to trace and cut out the circle (I don't own any large circle punches or dies or anything...YET). For the image I used old olive and perfect plum markers to color on my stamp then used the "huffing" technique to stamp the image. I inked just a tad around the base card and marigold morning cardstock as well as around the circle to soften it a bit. Then added some stitching around the edge fo the marigold morning too. I added some ribbon from my ribbon jars, a purple button and 3 glittery brads from Doodlebug Designs to finish.
Hope you like it, thanks for looking, have a GREAT weekend!
I am off to color some more Bellas!! Wooooohooooo!

Cranberry Bronc

2008-08-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

I just love Western themed images. This one is from Stampun up! stamp set Bronc Buster. I stamped it with Cranberry Crisp on Very Vanilla cardstock. All of the other paper used is patterned paper from Paper Pizazz.
The 3 little star brads are from Making Memories. I actually used my SU mat pack to punch the little holes for them first. That way I know they are lined up even. There is stitching around the image and the cranberry layer around that, but they don't show up in the pic very well. I also used SU photo corners punch for the...well...photo corners.
Have a Blessed day. Thanks for stopping by.

Cowboy, Swoon!

2008-08-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well, this is definately my favorite stamp set of all time. This delicious cowboy image is from the retired SU set Wild Wild West. He is just so darn ruggedly handsome! My stamping hero, Anna Wight made my very favorite card I have ever seen with this set. I love her caption. It says "...I really wanted to call this card "My deliciously rugged, take my breath away, YES, YES I'LL MARRY YOU, Cowboy in Blue" ...but I didn't want to embarrass myself." HA, she is the the greatest! For this card I started with Basic Black, added Creamy Caramel and Buckaroo Blue (Had to use a cowboy named color, didn't I?)The caramel background is stamped in versamark using the swirl from the SU set Bronc Buster The background on the blue is stamped with a little star within a circle stamp from the SU set Wanted, also using versamark. The WANTED is from the SU set Wanted too. The image and the wanted are both stamped in Close to Cocoa and the image is dusted with some chalks from my SU pastels. I added a bit of hemp just because I think it looks westerny on this card :-) This is the first card I have even sewn on!!!! I am excited at how it turned out. I think you might be seeing a bit of sewing on cards for awhile as I experiment with the look. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! Thanks for Looking.

Groovy one of a kind

2008-08-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

This is a little note card holder. I was inspired to do this by my SU friend Dawn, she's just amazing!! Her variation is a tad different, but I like this way too. I started with two A2 envelopes, cut the flap off one of them, put adhesive tape (I like tombo) on the flap of the envelope that I didn't cut off and insterted it into the other envelope. What I got was a "pouch" of sorts to put things in and decorate.
For the cover I used Whisper White cardstock, Wild Wasabi cardstock and ink as well as Groovy Guava patterned paper and ink from SU. The background stamp on the Wild Wasabi cardstock and the flower image are from the SU set True Friend. The sentiment is from the SU set One of a kind. I stamped the flower different colors by making the flower apart from the stem and inking up the stem, then masking the stem apart from the flower, inking up the flower, huffing the entire thing and stamping. I added a touch of groovy guava color to the edges of the white pieces to soften the look a bit. The ribbon is from my stash, probably bought at my local Michaels store. It's wrapped aroung the upper layer and tied off with a bow and then wrapped around the entire envelope to leave a "tassle" of sorts to tie it all closed. On the notecards I stamped the flower image in the corner of the notecards...which are whisper white cardstock. There are 8 cards inside, one set of 4 in the front pocket and one set of 4 in the back pocket.
Hope you like this!!

PresentahBella

2008-08-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, the last Bella for a few days. My Stampin up! stamps are starting to show signs of jealousy :-)I started this card with SU perfect plum cardstock, on top of that I layered taken with teal and pretty in pink. The patterned paper is some from my stash that has nobodys name on it so I cant tell you where it came from. The Happy Birthday sentiment is SU and the punch used to make the two-layer flower is SU scallop circle. The plum cardstock was punched using the scallop circle and the taken with teal inside of the flower is a 1-1/4 circle punch. The sentiment is clear heat embossed to give it a tad of dimention. The image is colored using my Stampin up! markers (LOVE THOSE!) There is also lots and lots for glitter pen outlining everything, but it doesn't show in the picture :-( The buttons are some my daughter had in a "Bag of scrapbooking stuff" that she thought would be cute on my card so I added them. Not a bad touch at all.
Check back tomorrow for another card!

CardbackaBella

2008-08-08T06:13:00.000-07:00

Another Bella card!! I think this might qualify as an addiction. Not the stamping part, I had to own up to that addiction long, long ago. But the Bella addiction. I just love them all!
For this card I used patterned paper by Tres Jolie. The paper is very thick, almost as thick as SU cardstock. The background paper is the same as the patterned paper. Well, it's one of those handy sheets that's printed on both sides. I just used one side for the background and the other side for the patterned. It's mounted on whisper white cardstoick for the card part. Love when it all comes together like that. I also used some Bashful blue cardstock from SU for the tag and blue layer behind the image. The ribbon is from my stach, no idea who made it. The eyelets came with my Crop-o-dile, which I used to set them all. The tag was punched using SU round tab punch. The background was also stamped using a little filigree stamp from CTMH and versamark then heat embossed with clear embossing powder to add a bit of shinyness (is that really a word?) to the card. The image is colored using my SU markers and I also used my favorite gel pen to add some sparkle on the image. You can't see it well in the picture, but she is sparklin'! I took SU more mustard and used a dauber to add a bit of color around the edges of the image and a bit through the white just to soften it up. Then I roughed up the edges of the blue layer just a smidge so it wasn't so crisp of an edge.
I can hardly wait for my new SU catalog!! My dear friend and demonstrator told me she received her shipment yesterday! Wooohooooo!!! I am going to stop by her house tomorrow afternoon to help her bind some. She is so awesome to us, she takes them to a printer, has them cut the books apart and then she binds them on a spiral thingy for us. She's the bestest!
Check back tomorrow for another creation!

DogwalkaBella

2008-08-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

WOW!! It's been a few days over 3 months since I posted to my blog! Where has the summer gone?!?!
Here is another Bella image for you. I just LOVE the Bella's! This beauty is called "DogwalkaBella". Pretty fitting I would say. I stamped her on Basic White cardstock, colored her in with my Stampin up! markers and added a tiny bit of glittery gel pen here and there for some pizzaz. You can't see the pizzaz in the picture, but it's there! I used my Stampin up! Photo corners punch for the little frames in Pixie Pink on either end of the image and added some little rhinestones to the corners too. The sentiment says "It's the little things that make life BIG." It's from my Stampin up! set Happy Harmony. It's one of my favorite sets. The background paper is from Heidi Grace designs. I am loving that green right now! The ribbon is some that I had wrapped around a clothespin so I have no idea where it came from besides my ribbon box. It's a light pink shimmery pretty ribbon though.
I hope you like my card. Check back tomorrow for the next one. I am back!!

Friendship pocket

2008-05-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

This is a cute little simple card that my daughter and I made together.
We used Pink Passion, Very Vanilla and Gable Green Cardstock, all SU! The little pink and green brads are from Impressions. The stamp sets used are "Pocket full of fun" and "Crosshatch" background also SU! The tags are also SU punches. This is a supper easy card and great for kids (my daughter is 13 ad we made 11 of these for her friends) Thanks for checking my blog!

Redneck...

2008-04-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

Ever hear that saying...."If you mow your yard and find a car in it...you might be a redneck"? Well this is just too funny!!! My Husband and I just went to Arkansas for a small vacation to help my Mother-in-Law move to a new apartment (after being in the last one for 25+ years!) While we were there one of my Brother-in-laws and one of my neices came down from Connecticut (where they are all from originally) and a few more people came and we hung out on Sunday at my other Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law's house in Traskwood, Arkansas...confused yet? Well, it's unbelievably green there and they have about 40 acres. Years and years ago someone (not them) parked an old bus on the back of the property next to the railroad tracks. Guess what!?!?! There are trees growing up through it. TREES!! Now I am not a complete city girl, I have some country in me too, but this I just had to take a picture of.
It was a FANTASTIC vacation, I just love all of my Husbands family, it was nice to visit with everyone and joke about the bus in the backyard. Here's the picture for you to chuckle at too :-)

Blog Candy Winner

2008-04-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

And the winner is.......Stef! Please contact me with your address and I will get this package sent out to you right away.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a response. It was my first ever blog candy and I appreciate you checking my blog.

Berry Bliss tri-fold card

2008-04-24T05:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a card I made for one of my kids' Teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week.
Don't forget to love on your kids' Teachers!!!! They deserve it :-)
OKay, I made this card with the SU patterned paper Berry Bliss, Cardstock in Close to Cocoa and Whisper White. The flower is from the SU set In The Spotlight. The punches used were the scalloped punch and 1-1/4 inch circle punch. The image is stamped in Purely Pomegranate and Close ot Cocoa. I used a white gel pen for the polka dots around the flower an it's all traced using a glitter pen for sparkle :-) The tutorial can be found on my Friend Beate's website www.beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com Her work is AMAZING!!

Now for the BLOG CANDY!!! I have an extra of everything to make this set except the punches. So you will get a package of Berry Bliss Patterned paper, a few sheets fo each Close to Cocoa and Whisper White, two spools of the ribbon I used (one of each) a white gel pen and a glitter pen. To be entered, please leave a message on this post and tell me what you favorite flower is. I will randomly choose a winner on Tuesday, April 29th when I return from vacation.

Bookwormabella

2008-04-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

One more Bella card!! I just Love the Bella stamps. This one I made for one of my kids' Teachers. May 4th-10th is National Teacher Appreciation Week....so love on your kids' teachers! This card is for the middle school Math teacher. She is an amazing teacher and I am happy to call her my friend, too. I really hope she loves this card.
I started with a base in Buckaroo blue (this is my FAVORITE color!) Then I layered on some patterned paper by Karen Foster. it's covered with the alphabet and some cutsie school type designs. The image is stamped on Whisper White and colored in with SU markers. The sentiment is from my SU set "A greeting for all reasons" and it's stamped in Close to Cocoa and punched out with a 1-1/4 inch circle punch with another circle that's 1-1/2 inch in Buckaroo Blue surrounding it. They both have a bit of color sponged around the edges. The little brads are from Making Memories and I added them to the sentiment circles as well as where there are the 4 ribbons on the edges of the image. The small ribbons are from Offray and I picked them up at my local craft store. The larger blue ribbon behind the image and the small blue and white ribbon that runs the length of the image are from lasting image and I got them at my local scrapbooking store. I used my glitter pen to add some sparkle to the image is various places, but the picture didn't really pick up any of it....but it's there and purty :-)
Thanks for looking at my blog! Come back tomorrow for a Blog candy giveaway!!

Apricot Jammie Bella

2008-04-21T14:50:00.001-07:00

I made this cute little Jammie Bella image again. I just love the Bella images! For this one I started with an Apricot Appeal base cardstock, layered on top of that is a Buckaroo Blue card and on top of that is the patterned paper by Scenic Route Paper Co. that I just love. The images is stamped on Whisper White cardstock and colored with my Stampin up! markers. The image is layered onto Buckaroo Blue and Apricot Appeal cardstock and then attached above the ribbon. There are 2 layers of ribbon. The first layer is a little white ribbon I picked up at my local Michaels store, the polka dot ribbon I bought at my local craft store and tied it into a bow.
This card was inspired by a card challenge by Beate for the weekend.
Thanks for looking!

Red, White and Blue

2008-04-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

This is another Patriotic card I made for yet another challenge. I am not sure I like how it turned out, but that's OK too!
I started with a Whisper White card base. I then stamped all images on Whisper white also. The patterned paper is from Doodlebug Designs. I matted the images and patterned paper onto Real Red and Brilliant Blue and then just layered them all together. The image of the Soldier is done by actually coloring my stamp with different colored markers in Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Old Olive. The stamp set I used is The Free and The Brave. All supplies are from SU!

Proud to be an American!

2008-04-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!!
I made this card for Beate's weekend challenge. For once I am actually getting something done early. I won't have any time to play this weekend because I am taking a "Learn to ride a motorcycle" class all weekend. (More on this in another post)
For this card I started out with a Bashful Blue base, layered some Close to Cocoa on it and the image is stamped on Whisper White, all SU! The stamp set I used is a retired SU set called Libert for all. I just love all of my patriotic sets!

Okay, I stamped the images using the huff technique. I used my SU markers to color the stamp, then I simply huff (breathe heavily) on the stamp to remoisten the ink and stamp the image. I think it turned out pretty good! Ya just never know sometimes how they will turn out. I used Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip on the image. It's layered on Close to Cocoa. I then used a little stamp just covered in tiny stars and stamped all over my base card and the little strip of Close to Cocoa on the right side too. I added a piece of ribbon I picked up at my local craft store for some breaking point. The stars I punched out and then added a small antique brad to and they are glued on to the card. The sentimant "PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!" is stmaped in Close to Cocoa.

This card is going to my brand new Adopted Soldier, Russell. He is over in Iraq risking his life. I gotta tell you, I am so very honored to support him and a few others on their deployment! They will never know how much my family and I appreciate their sacrafices and the sacrafices of their familes.
Have a fantastic weekend!

Challenge Baby

2008-04-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the very last card I am doing all week that is pink!! I am officially pinked out for now :-) I did this card for a sketch challnge. There are 4 teachers at my kids' Charter school who are currently pregnant and expecing before school gets out for the summer. I am sure this card will find a happy home soon. I started with pretty in pink for the card base and added a layer of Barely Banana. The image is stamped on Whisper White, all SU! The patterned paper is a Doodlebug Design. It has baby things all over it. You can't really tell in the picture but the patterned paper is pierced all along the edges. The ribbon is some I picked up at my local scrapbooking store, I just love the polka dots! The image is from my SU set "Figures of Speech". The cool thing about me owning this set is that my Hunky Husband had an opprotunity to visit SU headquartyers in Utah to install some things there that they bought from his company. While he was there he was talking to folks telling them what a SU addict I am and before he left, the wonderful woman at the front desk, her name is Christy, gave him two sets to give to me that were no longer available to purchase. On top of that, she actually tucked a note inside for me. I felt all special and stuffs :-)The image is layered using 2 sizes of circle punches and the SU scallop punch, it's also up on pop dots for dimention. Thanks for looking!

Pink Western Belle

2008-04-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

I made this card for my "Auntie Barb". She is truly the "Western Belle". She has a radio show that broadcasts in her Southern Colorado 4 corners community and also on the internet Sunday's @ Noon until 2:PM MST at www.ksjd.org. It's Western music at it's finest. Now it's NOT Country music, it's Western music. Check it out one Sunday when you are sitting in front of your computer, she's the BESTEST!!
For this card I started with a Pretty in Pink base, added a few layers of patterned paper from the Berry Bliss designer paper package, all from SU! I stamped the image on Whisper White cardstock in Chocolate Chip ink with some Close to Cocoa sponged all over to give it a worn look, and mounted the image on Close to Cocoa, also SU. The "Western Belle" is also stamped on WW and layered onto CTC and sponged. The alphabet I used for the Western Belle is from Stampendous, the image is from a CTMH set that my dear friend Elisha let me borrow MONTHS ago and I am still using :-) She is colored using my SU markers in Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose. The paper stars are Pretty in pink and the little star brads are from Spare Parts, a Paper Studio company. There is a tad of hemp twine wound around the bottom of the card and a piece of dark brown ribbon running behind her to seperate the two layers of patterned paper on the bottom. The card has a layer of patterned paper inside with another layer of Whisper White so my Auntie Barb can write whatever she wants inside.
I hope you like this card Auntie Barb, it will be in the mail to you tomorrow! I Love you!

Blue Jammybella

2008-04-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love the names of the Bella's? Jammybella...how cute is that!? For this card I started with a base of Bashful Blue then a layer of Creamy Caramel and the image is stamped on Whisper White. All SU! The patterned paper is from Scenic Route Paper Company. I picked it up last week when we were on vacation. I just HAD to check out the little scrapbooking store in a little town as we drove through. Surely I am not the only addict that does this...right? :-) I bought lots of it in assorted patterns so you'll be seeing it here off and on. The image was colored using my SU markers. The blue around the edges is bashful blue again only sponged on this time. The background on the bashful blue is actually the bottom of a flower stamp from my Heartfelt thanks set. It was a set I had handy when I thought this card would need something on the base, I think it turned out pretty cute. Her little slippers are all glammed up with glitter. I used my Star Dust roll on glitter pen for this effect. It doesn't show in the picture, but it's so cute! The little flower on her night shirt is glittered too. I LOVE this pen!! I am on #3 and they have never clogged on me, even once. The scalloped egde of the creamy caramel layer was acheived by using my scalloped square punch and feeding the cardstock through just the edge of the punch about an inch at a time. The ribbon and bow are some glittery ribbon I picked up at my local craft store. Finally the creamy caramel layer and image are popped up on dots for dimention. Happy Friday Everyone!

Purple Bella

2008-03-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I am ready for spring to get here, I have been gravitating towards the springy colors with my cards of late. Here's the newest one. I did this layout as part of a challenge. I started with Almost Amethyst cardstock, added a layer of Certainly Celery and stamped them both with the same color inks using the little oputline flower in my SU set Heartfelt Thanks. The image is stamped on Whisper white. All colors are SU. The images is colored using my SU markers in the colors Almost Amethyst, Bordering Blue and Close to Cocoa. The image is "ipodabella" from Stamping Bella designs. I just LOVE my Bellas! The Sentiment is from my Sale-a-bration set Lots of Thoughts. I used a 1-1/2 inch circle punch for the sentiment and then two more cicrles behind the sentiment. They are each a tad off centered so they would show since they are all the same size. The sentiment is also popped up on dots. The ribbon is some I have had in my stash for a long time, not sure where I got it but I only have about 8 inches of it left, so I will be looking for it again soon, I really like the texture and look of it. The little Sparkle Brads are called Sugar Coated Brads and they are from Doodlebug Designs. Thanks for visiting my blog today!

cowboy

2008-03-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

All I can say about the person who actually created this image is "you just know what ruggedly sexy looks like!" Don't you think this cowboy is one of the best images ever? He is from the SU set Wild Wild West. When I first saw this set I thought to myself, "If I saw that walking towards me on a nice spring day, I would think I had died and gone to Heaven!" Fortunately for me I am blessed and I married a Yank...who is just the most awesome man ever! He's not a cowboy. He says...and I quote..."I am not going to ride something that has a mind of it's own!" Followed by "This is the biting end and this is the kicking end, that's all I ever need to know about horses." He leaves the horse stuff to me and the kids. He prefers motorcycles to horses. Not a bad trade, and he looks very sexy on his motorcycle, kinda like this cowboy and his saddle.
Ok, on with the recipe...I got this sketch in a challenge and decided to use this image because it fit. I started with Certainly Celery cardstock layered with Creamy Caramel, Buckaroo Blue and finally the image is stamped on Whisper White. The certainly Celery has the Weathered background stamp in Certainly Celery ink, the Creamy Caramel is stamped with the cowboy hat from the same stamp set, stamped in versamark and embossed with clear powder for some texture. The Buckaroo Blue has the spurs, again from the same set stamped all over it in the Buckaroo Blue ink and finally the Hunky Cowboy is colored in with Chalks. Two big eyelets and one "star" brad are used as well as some Hemp Twine to pull it all together. All Cardstock and Chalks are SU. The eyelets came with my crop-a-dile and the little star brad is from Spare Part by Paper Studio.
Hope you are having a FANTASTIC Easter!

Rusty Cowboy

2008-03-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ohhhh I just LOVE this cute little cowboy! Since we are a horse family, I tend to do many western/cowboy cards. Here's another to add to my collection. The image is from Lizzie Anne Designs stamps and I am SO happy I have him! He is watercolored on watercolor paper using an aqua painter and SU reinkers. All colors are from SU. The base card is Really Rust. It's stamped all over with the small spur stamp from my SU Wild Wild West set in Really Rust ink. Then on Buckaroo Blue (One of my FAVS!) I used the Weathered SU background stamp and Buckaroo Blue ink. The little guy is stamped with Stazon black. There is the tiniest layer of Bashful Blue under the image and both layers have basic black underneath them, showing just a smidge. The sentiment is also from Lizzie Anne Designs, it just fit with the little waving cowboy so well I think. Hope you like him :-)

Need it Bella

2008-03-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

Ohhhhhh I am just LOVING my new Bella images!! I seem to be using pink and brown a lot together this week. I just think they go together so well...makes her look kinda sassy, dontcha think? :-)For this card I started with Regal Rose cardstock, The purse stamp that I used to stamp all over it as well as the sentiment stamps are from the Hanna set "But I needed it". The sentiment was made with 2 layers of scalloped squares. Then I added a patterned paper from the Berry Bliss collection. The image is stmaped on Whisper white. The sentiment is on Regal Rose and the image and sentiment are both framed by Close to Cocoa (All SU paper)The image is stamped in Basic Black and then colored using SU markers in Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose and Purely Pomegranate.. There is a bit of sponging just around the outside of the image in Purely Pomegranate too. The little ribbon tied into a bow is some I picked up at my local craft store. I also used the ticket punch for the corners of the patterned paper.

Pink Bella

2008-03-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

This card I made for a sketch challenge. I started with a Regal Rose card stamped all over with a stamp from SU Boho backgrounds, then layered some patterned paper from SU called Berry Bliss. Then I added some bashful blue cardstock for contrast. The image is stamped on Whisper white and colored using SU markers Regal Rose, pretty in pink, bashful blue, close to cocoa, apricot appeal, summer sun and blush blossom. I used Copic black for the tires. The sentiment is from the Sale-a-bration set Lots of thoughts. I think she looks pretty cute in her pink corvette. I would drive one of those!! COME ON SUMMER!

Teal Hanna

2008-03-17T09:32:00.001-07:00

This card I made for a Challenge on SCS for the Hanna group. I started with Cool Caribbean cardstock for my base then added Basic Black and Taken with Teal. The image is stamped on Whisper White (all CS is SU) The backgrounds are stamped with Taken with Teal and Close to Cocoa. The image is colored with SU markers and Copic markers. The "road" is done with Close to Cocoa and an aqua painter. I used the SU scallop punch for the stop sign and layered it with a black scallop punch behind the teal. All stamps are from the Hanna set "Route 66". I just love my Hanna!

God is busy!

2008-03-13T07:34:00.001-07:00

I got this email this morning from my Husband who got it from my Mother-in-law. She's just FANTASTIC!!! Here goes....

Can I get an Amen?????
A United States Marine was attending some college courses between
assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan
One of the courses had a professor who was a vowed atheist and a member
of the ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in.
He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "God, if you are real, then
I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15
minutes."
The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes
went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am God. I'm still
waiting." It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got
out of his Chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him;
knocking him off the plat form. The professor was out cold.
The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently.
The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in
silence.
The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the
Marine and asked, "What the hell is the matter with you? Why did you do
that?" The Marine calmly replied, "God was too busy today protecting
America 's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid crap and
act like a jerk. So, He sent me."

Easter Egg

2008-03-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

This card was made for some teachers at my kids's school. I started with base cardstock in barley banana then added a layer of bashful blue on top of that. (All SU colors)The patterned paper is from imaginisce, I picked it up today at my local Archivers store. You can't tell in the picture but it is textured with raised images and some glossiness (Is that really a word?) that looks like clear embossing on it. Just cute as can be it is! I pierced the corners of the little pieces of patterned paper, then taped them to the blue. Next I stamped the egg and word images from the SU set A Good Egg and colored the little spots with SU markers. Added a scallop in Barely Banana. A splash of white ribbon from my LCS tied into a little double bow off to the side just gives it "something" and finally I added little rhinestones from Hero Arts to the "Happy Easter" image and just put it all together. Enjoy!

Pink Hanna

2008-03-11T08:51:00.001-07:00

Happy Tuesday! I finished this card this morning for the Hanna swap over on SCS. I hope whoever gets these cards in the swap really likes them. For this card I started with a base cardstock in Purely Pomegranate, added a layer of Regal Rose then a patterned paper from the Berry Bliss collection. (All SU) A little layer of Close to Cocoa brings it together (in my mind anyway) since I also used Close to Cocoa to color her pants and hair and to back the little circle punch at the top left with the arrow inside. The arrow is stamped with Purely Pomegranate on the same color cardstock. Finally the image is stamped on Whisper White and colored in with SU markers and a few copics for the grey's on the motorcycle and Black on the tires. I also sponged Purely Pomegranate all over the image so it wasn't quite so white. The image is also raised on dimentionals to give it some height. The little rhinestones across the top are from Hero Arts and the Sparkle brad in the front tire is from Doodlebug Designs. The little rocks under the front tire are stamped with versamark and clear embossed for texture. I kinda like how this one turned out. Hope you like it too!

Tryouts

2008-03-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

I took this picture this past Saturday and just had to share it with you. If you follow my blog at all, you know that my kids are involved in Westernaires. Well, this last weekend was "tryouts" for one of teams my son is on to move up to the higher team. So, they get the boys that are already on the higher team and invite some of the boys from the lower team who they think might be ready to move up and they hold the try-outs. One of the things, upon many, is the boys all work together to build a mini-pyramid on horseback. There are "base riders" on each horse, then boys jump up from one end of the line and walk across the back (actually the rumps of them)of the horses until they have enough boys to straddle the horses. One thing I should note for you is that the horses are actually trotting during most of this. Not always, but that's what they should be doing. I took this picture just as my sons team went past us parents sitting on the bleachers. My son happens to be the one in the black jacket, 3rd from the far end, trying not to do the splits! The horses learn to work as a team, like the kids do, but sometimes they don't like to be SO close and one or more will step a few feet out of line. I told him afterwards that I got the picture and I thought about titling it "This is what a wrangler butt looks like right before it splits!" :-)

Hanna swap

2008-03-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday everyone! I have the privelage to participate in a Hanna card swap over on SCS. I am very excited as I just bought my first 3 sets of Hanna's and have been waiting to play with them. This is the first card I make for the swap. I used Confetti Cream, Certainly Celery and Groovy Guava cardstock from SU. The patterned paper is from Tres Jolie and I picked it up at my local Archivers store. The adorable little brads with glitter on them are from Doodlebug designs, picked up at Archivers too and finally it's all colored using my SU markers. I hope you like it! I will be working on the other card for the swap (I HAD to have 2 spots!) and will post it tomorrow, so check back.