Virtual Stamp Night!!!

Are you ready for this? There are a total of 9 cards that I completed over the weekend. Even after being gone pretty frequently. Amazing. 8 of those cards are for the VSN challenges over at SCS. The other was a Wish RAK February card contest. So, let's get started, shall we?

First up: the challenge was to use something new that you haven't used before. Everything but the cardstock must be new. So, I just got this Sizzix die from SU and I LOVE this thing! It's so versatile and just plain beautiful. One of my favorite color combinations is black and white and this die just fits perfectly for that. The white cardstock is actually a shimmer cardstock. I just bought this ribbon and the fibers recently and hadn't even opened them until I did this card. Amazingly, the fiber and the ribbon matched each other perfectly even though I bought them both at different places and times.

Next Up: The challenge was to make a monochromatic card. We were only allowed one neutral of white or vanilla. So I had a lot of fun with excessive and maybe even ridiculous amounts of pink. This card also features some things I haven't used or haven't used very much. I used my new border punch to do the eyelet edge and the dandelions are glittered with Martha Stewart glitters I've had for a while but not done much with. It may have been better without the glitter, but, hey, a little bling is always nice, especially with this much pink. LOL. The butterflies are from Dreams du Jour and the sentiment is from small script. The dandelions are from Happy Harmony. I can't even begin to tell you the names of all the pink colors. the inks however are pink passion and and regal rose (I think).

Card #3: This challenge was to use the split negative technique. I LOVE this technique and the card itself. I took the scraps from the first card when I made the die cut and used them in the background here. This is also on shimmer white cardstock. It's a very simple card. The butterfly is from God's Beauty and it is just perfect for this technique. This one did take some doing to get the placement just right, but I won in the end. mwahahah. Two way glue is a girl's best friend here. LOL.


Card #4: This was a card to make with the help of a child and was to feature things you love. So I made my 3-year old's hand print in red ink on the red paper. Now, for those of you who have ever tried to craft with a 3-year old, you can truly appreciate the mess that came next. I mean, honestly, what was I thinking?!!! Oh, well. Nothing a bath and a lot of ink remover can't cure. Anyway, back to the card. The other part of the challenge was to use a heart, a circle and a square on a standard size card. Since red is mine and my child's favorite color, there is a lot of red on here. My DH loves navy blue, but it just didn't look right on this card. So the background square is chocolate chip, which come to think of it is a definite favorite of his especially in the form of cookies. I made the hand print make and impression on the heart. Kind of symbolic. Then in the circle I took people out of the All in the Family set and put one for each member of our family in there.

Card # 5 This was a card that was all about chocolate. The hostess gave us several choices with color combo challenges and we were to pick our favorite kind of chocolate and use that combo. I love dark chocolate so I chose that one. It was close to cocoa, apricot appeal, and cameo coral. An absolutely beautiful color combination. This one also uses some new things I haven't gotten around to using yet. Sounds like I have a lot of new things lately, LOL. Shhh...Don't tell DH. :D Well, this on uses my butterfly dies from SU, a cuttlebug embossing folder (the name of which eludes me at the moment), and a new stamp set from Unity Stamps called Something Within.


Card #6 Now this is the one that is for the February Wish RAK card contest. I had a lot of fun with this one. The dog I got as a wish RAK and thought he was so cute and would go perfectly with my Cowboy Kid set. So I looked up a sketch (brain too fried at this point to come up with one on my own, LOL) and found a sketch challenge over at SCS and the sketch number is SC207 if you want to look it up. I used some pretty yellow I had in my paper stash, old olive, chocolate chip, and really rust. The read was markered in. Turned out really cute!

Card #7 This was a fun and very quick card. The challenge was to use acetate to make a card. Seriously, this took about ten minutes tops to do! I used a wheel stamp I have that is a new one in the catalog and matches the always set. The butterflies on the side are from Butterfly of Happiness, and of course my new butterfly die. that's about it. I have no idea what color of green that is, but it goes well with the cameo coral paper. The sentiment stamp is a dollar stamp from Michael's.



Card #8 Here was a really cool technique I had seen but never tried. The challenge was to use the melted crayon background technique. Granted, this is a stinky one, but the results are amazing. The tutorial for this can be found at splitcoast stampers, as usual. I used metallic crayons and then added in some purples just for a bit of variety and it looks like a piece of shale or some kind of rock. Then I took my Staz-On and stamped the deer image on top of it, tore the bottom and put it all together. Now, this card still needs some kind of work, but I'm not sure what it might be. So I'm open to constructive suggestions to this or any other card on my site.




Card #9 Now this was a new technique to me. It makes awesome cards, but is a bit more involved than a regular card. The challenge was to use a joy fold card. You can find the tutorial over at splitcoast. It's not hard, just has more paper and steps. Again, I went a little overboard with the pinks, but it was fun. I especially like the pearl closures I came up with. the paper is the new Raspberry Tart paper, and I had fun once again with my new eyelet punch. ;) there are several pics with this one that shows how the card works.

Tonight's the night!

For virtual stamp night over at Splitcoast. So much fun! I had a blast with the last one I did, and I won't be able to do all of them this time around, but I will do as many as possible. So be on the lookout for more posts to come! Probably a few.

Just had to share some fun or cool (in my ever so humble opinion) photos that I have taken of nature over the weekend.

The deer and the birds were taken through the window. Those cardinals gave me quite a hard time. They just wouldn't stay still long enough to get the camera focused in! I loved the fact, however, that one of the pics of the cardinal was with a berry of some sort in its beak. Didn't even know that was there until I uploaded the pics from my camera. The tulip was a Valentine's gift and they were just beautiful.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope all have had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Mine has been rather lazy and wonderful for that reason. Here it is 2:00 in the afternoon and I'm still in my jammies with no intention of changing either. LOL. Can't remember the last time I had that opportunity. Anywho. Here are two cards for you for today. One for my DH, the other for my little one. Both were a lot of fun to do.

The one for my DH was actually a challenge I ran across over at splitcoast to do a valentine's card without using red or pink. This was fun and I ended up with a monochromatic card. I loved the softness of this look! The stamp set is one of my favorites, yet I seem to forget to use it very often--Dreams du jour. I stuck with several colors of blue and white as my color scheme and I loved the way this card came out.






Next was the card for my little munchkin. The kiddo is so into Winnie the Pooh right now and really seems to favor Roo. So I did some searching on line for Pooh coloring pages and came across this one of Roo. Thinking it was an adorable picture of Roo, I printed it out. Okay, confession time. Funny story. I spent about two hours looking for a picture that would actually print out and was getting so frustrated that I couldn't get anything to print. After the two hours had passed, I just happened to look down and realized (DUH!) that the printer was unplugged so I could upload photos from my camera. Man, did I feel like an idiot. So, I finally got the picture printed and then watercolored it with my SU markers. After that I did some cutting out to layer it on the bright papers and then voila, in one hour I was finished. By this time it was 1:00 a.m. and I was exhausted. If I only I had looked down sooner, I could have been in bed a whole lot sooner. LOL.

Sale-A-Bration time! and a swap

Well, it's that time of the year where Stampin' Up customers can earn free stamp sets!! Now that's a word, I love to hear--FREE stamps. So this card uses one of those sets of stamps. This is the Yummy set, and it's probably one of my favorites. I love the swirls and flourishes on it, and the sheer elegance of it. This card is for a SAB swap this Wednesday with my upline and up. I used the in-colors on it and love the combinations of pacific point and pirouette pink. The lighter blue is actually bashful blue and it made a really soft complement to the bright blue and soft pink. I also used the sizzix sizzlits die birds and blooms for the bird and the flowers and leaf. This is also one of my favorite sizzlit sets. I can't wait until my set gets here! This card is a gift card holder and on the inside is a pocket where you can slide in the gift card.

Challenge card re-do

Okay, I didn't like the first black, white and red plus gold card so I gave it another shot. This one is better in my opinion. It's definitely more cheerful and more like my style. It's all out of scraps! I have way, WAY too many of those! So I found a baskets and blooms basket that I had cut out of chipboard and used that covered with black paper. I used a black marker on the edges to hide the chipboard edges. then I found this cute little oval nestie that was from Wish RAK and stamped the sentiment out of the happy heart set. The flowers are pieced together out of punches from scraps and then held together with a gold brad.

More Wish RAK challenges!

wow! It's been a while since I've been on here it seems. Been crazy around here and doing some wish RAK'ing like crazy over at Splitcoast Stampers. Now there are those who do way more than I do, but this week was a lot for me. 23 in one week with a few more planned to do as well. But I did manage to squeeze in the time to come up with these gems. These cards are for the wish RAK monthly challenge contest. As is always the case with wish RAK challenges, the cards made must use something received from wish RAK.

I really love the way the scripture one turned out. The challenge for this one was to make a gatefold card. I received this beautiful scripture stamp and just had to use it here. so I mounted it on some scraps of SU prints pack paper and then on kraft cardstock. I used antique copper brads to attach some scraps of chocolate chip ribbon and then more brads to attach the image to the card front. The designer paper I used was from my scrap bin as well and I can't recall the name of it. I punched a 5-petal flower out of some more scrap Kraft paper and used my dry embossing tool to make it more three dimensional. Then I punched out a couple of flowers with my boho punch to layer in the middle with the rhinestone brad.

The next card challenge I completed was to do in honor of Valentine's day or chinese new year and to use red, black, white and gold. The nestie oval was something I received from wish RAK so I stamped on the happy heart and embossed it in black. Then used the resist technique and colored over it with a red marker to get the letters red. I took a hole punch and punched each of the scallops on the oval. Then I took some black cardstock and put it through the cuttlebug to emboss that layer of cardstock. Those were then layered on red and white cardstock and put on a base of red. I used some gold embroidery floss to make the gold accents in the corners. I'm not too sure about this card. It seems a little dull to me in the layout, though.

Now on to the next challenge. A dog card. Hmmm....

Crazy for Cupcakes

Here's another card for the Taylored Expressions cupcake challenge. This one was tricky. It's a gate fold card opening from the top. I used my circle nestabilities for the circles on the opening flap. The colors came from an old color challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers: chocolate chip, groovy guava and barely banana. Paper for the baloon came from a retired SU Designer Series Paper (I think it's ginger blossoms). The back side of the baloon paper is used for the rectangle on the base of the card. For the guava border, I used my scallop edge punch and an 1/8 inch circle punch to make an eye-let like border.

Sock Monkey, anyone?!

Here is a fun little card I made today based on a sketch challenge I found over at Taylored Expressions. One of the designers for this challenge came up with this challenging sketch and you can see it here on her blog. I used the sock monkey set, and I think this set grows on me more each time I use it. Confession: It was not my favorite set by far when it first came out. I found some prints pack designer papers in my scrap bin to make the paper pieced part of the monkey and the background squares. This is a bit of an odd color combo, but I think it works pretty well. Thoughts?

Wish RAK contest cards

The following cards are for this month's Wish RAK contest over at splitcoast stampers. I've never even done these before, and they are quite a lot of fun. The main challenge is that you have to use something you received via wish RAK somewhere on each of your cards. Then each challenge that is posted puts additional restrictions on them. By the way, if you haven't looked into wish RAK, you should really check it out. It's lots of fun and a great way to save money and space on buy stamped images. Plus, it's always a surprise what you will get. :D

The first Challenge: Baby, it's cold outside. The challenge is to use the colors Bordering Blue, Night of navy, very vanilla and a "hint" of pretty in pink. Additionally, it has to have a hot drink somewhere one the card. So, I received via wish RAK a Riley sitting in his recliner drinking a cup of coffee while eating a cupcake, and this is the only "hot drink" image I had so I went with it. I used the pink on his mug and cupcake. The background is cuttlebugged with snowflakes. The sentiment was also something I received via wish RAK.

The second challenge: Die Cut Dilemma. The challenge here is to use a die cut somewhere on your card. I have Valentine's Day on the brain and so my card for this one is all about love. It's a gate-fold card with the opening being a heart. I cut out a heart with my nesties (I just had to have a set of these myself to do my Valentine's stuff--I love hearts), and the hand cut the stamped heart and layered it on the ridinghood red one. Then I cut another littler heart and layered it on top of that one. From the pretties kit, I took a small flower and small rhinestone brad and put them through the hearts. I used a piece of DSP out of my Bella paper and covered the right flap with that leaving a bit of a pink border on the edge. I used the flat pearls out of the pretties kit as well to outline the heart on the DSP. On the Pirouette Pink side I used a marker and made dots around the outside of the heart to outline it. Then I stamped the sentiment on the lower edge.

The third challenge: Sketch it. This one was fun, too. It uses a sketch from www.pagemaps.com as the challenge. There was really no additional restrictions to this challenge. For mine, I had this adorable bear from a wish RAK and decided to use him. I colored his heart pink and then embossed with iridescent ice. I then used my nesties and paper left over from the previous card to make the embellishments.

January Virtual Stamp Night Challenges at Splitcoast

Okay, here's the slideshow of the cards I'm doing for the challenge this weekend. These have been quite challenging at times since they should be completed with 45 minutes. I haven't completed very many, but I will keep working at them and add to the slides. Hopefully I'll get them all done before the end of the month, LOL. If you want to see more information on them visit my gallery at splitcoast stampers web site.

Another round of challenge cards plus some...

Splitcoast is hosting a Virtual Stamp Night mini challenge this weekend, and it's all about love. I have been having lots of fun working on those challenges. Watch for a slideshow to come of those cards as well. So, it's official, I'm hooked on Splitcoast, but it's been forcing my creativity to expand and improve in a lot of ways and that's the great thing about it.

Mean while, here's a card I whipped up late, late last night for a family member's birthday. It's made with morning soft stamp set and watercolored with markers. The paper is soft sky overstamped with the floral background stamp in night of navy ink. I think it turned out really pretty. What do you think?

Well, I finally finished all the cards...

At least the ones I will be able to finish from the challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. There were a few that I just simply had nothing to use on those cards. Shocking, but true.

It may be a while before I post much more. So please, bear with me. It's been a very difficult month for me personally. At times, I'm doing well to keep my head above water and keep from sinking. So bear with me as I go through this season of my life and re-establish where I'm going.

Hopefully I'll be able to get a few cards posted, though. I received a wish RAK today that had one of my favorite scriptures in it. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy path." I have to believe in that scripture right now through all the hurt I'm feeling that He has a plan for me and my life will be better for it.

Sorry to be depressing, but this is also therapeutic for me as well. I hope that all is well with each of you and that you will all have a blessed and happy day!

Cards for Soldiers Wish RAK New Year's Challenge

Over the New Year holiday Splitcoast stampers hosted a challenge to make lots of cards to be sent to soldiers overseas. Since I think this is an awesome and very worthy cause, I decided to participate. We owe our soldiers so much, and this is one small way I felt I could give something back to them since they give so much everyday for each of us Americans. The above slideshow is a collection of the cards I made to fit the various challenges. Hopefully, I will find the time to post each card individually along with what the challenge was. But for now, here's at least a view. I still have quite a few more challenges to do so I will try to remember to add them to this slideshow as I finish them. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Hopefully everyone out there had a wonderful Christmas! I missed seeing my family again this year, and it was a difficult Christmas to say the least. But, thanks be to God and his wonderful grace, I made it through. We were so busy with my in-laws, who by the way, are the best in-laws a girl could ask for, that I didn't even have much time to dwell on missing my own side of the family. The real blessing of the season, though, is one that should not be overlooked--the blessing of the gift of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for without him there would be no hope at all or reason to celebrate. So even in the difficult times and the lonely hours we should all remember the blessing of the season. Here's wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year with many blessings yet to come.

Now for the big one!

Okay, Here's the big project I've been working on that has kept me away so long. This is a project that my husband's aunt came up with about Thanksgiving time, and it turned out beautiful. In this book are copies of all the letters written between my husband's grandparents both before they were married and after they were married and he was working in California while she lived here with two small children and one on the way. It took a lot of time, but was well worth the effort to see how much these books meant to each of the four kids. Eventually, there will be nine total books completed, but I could only accomplish four during the christmas rush for presents. By the way, sorry about the jumble of pics above. I just can't seem to get the graphic part of this down yet! arrrgghh. Someone please show me a better way. LOL

so now, for a little creative activities I have accomplished...Ready? I've been really busy, and I don't mean that as an understatement either! The following projects were really just diversionary tactics to take a break from another project I can't share just yet, but it's a big one. Trust me! The first one is for a gift exchange. If you are going to be at that gift exchange, act surprised. LOL I was too excited over how it turned out to wait on the post! This is a tic tac toe game that I created with the beautiful (well, some aren't really convinced, but I am :D) Scandinavian stamp set out of the mini catalog and paper punches. The pieces are stored in an acetate pocket on the inside flap of the game board. The pieces attach with velcro. The first picture is of the outside with the board folded up. The remainin pictures are of the inside with and without the pieces attached.

The second one...an idea I got from Splitcoast Stampers gallery. It's a big project, and the original idea is actually a card, but I converted it to a bound chipboard project to use as home decor that would be sturdy and last a while. What do you think? Sorry about the jumble of photos. I was having a war with my computer and the computer won!

Miracles do happen!

Where have I been?!! My word, what a month, and it's only half-way through. So much busyness with all the holiday activity and shopping, I can hardly think straight sometimes. This in addition to all the family drama happening in my life as well. For those who don't know, my Grandma was near death and was told by the hospice that she would really only have about 24-48 hours left. That was Thursday. Well, we went to go see about her on Saturday and found her alert and in her bed able to converse with those around her. Apparently, the Lord performed a miracle on her. She is still not able to really do much of anything for herself and is still on hospice care, but at least we will have her for a little while longer. Please continue to pray for my family through some very difficult times ahead. Thank you to those who have been praying. I have felt your prayers and have received very kind words of encouragement.

A challenge card for today...

This one was a challenge for me! I love color ALOT. So when I found this color challenge on SCS I decided to give it a try, and I combined it with a recent sketch challenge as well. The colors are sahara sand, very vanilla and basic black. That's it! So I got out my two favorite sets--Always, and baroque motifs. Using Sahara sand on the very vanilla I stamped the flourish and the word cherish. Then on another piece of very vanilla, I stamped this beautiful heart in black and then used a blender pen to add in some sahara sand to tie it all together. I added a piece of black ribbon and a brad to the edge for the finishing touch. I really like the elegance of this card. Hope you like it!

Another photo mailer type card...

This was our creative activities project for MOPS this month. We all made photo mailers that are a card and a scrapbooking project all in one. These were so much fun to do and so simple. These are samples of some of the moms projects. Aren't they great? There were many more just as cute, but I didn't get around to taking pics of all of them. LOL