Butterfly Wishes

Happy Saturday peeps! Today's card is a birthday card that is somewhere in the Canada postal system as we speak. Today is the person's birthday, but who knows when that envelope will arrive?

I really loved this card I made a while back for SC164, so I set out to try the sketch again. A week or so ago I found a Making Memories pack at Target that was a collection of black, white and dark gray designer paper. I just love using black & white with a little color, so I picked it up and knew it would be perfect for thsi card. I stamped the polka dot butterfly from Fluttering By on a strip of white cardstock in Versafine Onyx Black. Next I stamped it again on Vellum Cardstock and embossed with black detail embossing powder. I then colored the back side of the vellum with a Copic marker, heat set, trimmed just the body and popped up over the original stamped butterfly. Next I took the small polka dot butterfly from Petals & Stems and stamped it twice above the large butterfly in Soft Sky. I added a little Soft Sky sponging for softness and then matted on Basic Gray cardstock. For the background I used two different stamps from Filigree Fantasy to create a pattern of Soft Sky on Soft Sky. I finished off with a sentiment from Wonderful Wishes in the corner, then added two pearls and some ribbon to the designer paper panels. Then I sprayed the entire card with a clear glitter spray I get at Wal-mart to add a little sparkle coating.

Hope y'all have a fabulous weekend!

Filigree Thanks

Well, I loved the Sage, Chocolate, Vanilla color combination so much that I had to make another card with it. This time, I started with the SCS sketch challenge for this week. I knew I wanted to play with Filigree Fantasy because I was just in a frilly kind of mood, so I started by stamping one of the stamps repeatedly in sage shadow on the same color cardstock. Next I stamped the larger filigree of the same pattern on a square of very vanilla cardstock in chocolate chip and then sponged the edges with sage shadow and then chocolate chip. I then matted this on a chocolate chip square that I used the slit punch on all four sides to create a holder for the stamped panel. This layer I matted on a sage shadow Mega Scallop Square punch and inked the edges with chocolate chip. To finish the look, I added some liquid pearls around each slit and a pearl brad from the BRIDE's collection in the center.

Next I made a scallop border across a piece of chocolate chip cardstock with my slit punch and then stamped it with the filigree stamp in very vanilla craft ink and heat set. I tied vanilla and chocolate satin ribbon across the panels and then decided to continue with the pearl look by adding some dots of liquid pearls to the center and in between each filigree in the background. While doing this, I made a few little smudges, so I decided to flip the sketch on it's side and add a sentiment. The sentiment is stamped in chocolate Chip, punched out with the word window punch and then matted with chocolate chip, using decorative scissors for the scalloped edges. I finished off by sponging the edges of the sage background and matting on a chocolate chip card base.

Sage Dreams

This morning I woke up with the idea for this card in my head. Unfortunately I had a million other things I needed to do before I could stamp. After several hours of struggling through returning emails and other non-glamorous tasks, I finally just gave in to the call of the stamp room! I'm so glad I did, because my card turned out just like I had envisioned it. It's always so nice when the picture in my head agrees with the picture in my camera!

The inspiration for the card was from the SCS color challenge for the week to use Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip and Vanilla. This combo just called my name the minute I read about it. For some reason, I used to hate Sage Shadow and now it's one of my favorite colors. Funny how our tastes change over time. I've had my eye on the Wild Things Gel-a-tins set all spring, and finally gave in and purchased it the other day. I totally love this set!

I started by stamping several of the flowers and grasses in Chocolate Chip on Pearlized cream cardstock. Next I inked the butterfly in Sage Shadow and then rolled the edges in Chocolate Chip. I cut and embossed the image with the Classic Rectangles Nestabilities and also cut a chocolate chip mat and a Sage Shadow scallop rectangle mat. Next I took a blender pen and lightly bled the edges around the flowers and grasses to give a little shadow. I then sponged the Sage Shadow scallop rectangle with Chocolate Chip, glued the three layers together and set aside.

I pulled out my dusty Tres Chic background and stamped it in Sage Shadow on the same color cardstock and then sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip. Next I wrapped Chocolate taffeta around the background panel and secured by tying a knotted bow through the We R Memory Keepers Coppered Out ribbon slider. The sentiment tag is cut out with the Cuttlebug tiny tags die and then inked with Chocolate Chip around the edges. I stamped the birthday wishes sentiment from Wonderful Wishes and then glued the tag down over the image and under the ribbon slider. I finished off by gluing to a chocolate chip card base and then painting a mixture of Diamond Glaze and Dazzling Diamonds over the butterfly wings.

Happy Together

The other day I was chatting with Shannan and she told me I better order some Stampavie stamps because she ordered some and as soon as she started posting cards I'd be wanting some. Well, I resisted for like 2 days, then I just had to order at least one to test them out. I started with this one called For You from the Lily & Milo collection. Since the little boy's name is Milo and that's also my dad's name, it was just meant to be. :)

For my card, I decided to take another stab at the Verve color challenge going on. The designers are still rocking the Verve Blog with their samples, and you still have until Saturday to get your entry in for a chance to win some Verve Bucks. I stamped For You in Versafine Onyx Black, heat set and then colored with Copic markers. I sponged the edges with Soft Sky ink and then matted with Old Olive. For the back layer, I pieced together a scrap of So Saffron and Soft Sky, ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Stylized Flowers folder and added some Soft Sky double stitched ribbon down the seam.

The sentiment is from the Anniversary Birds set. I stamped it in Onyx Black, punched out just the sentiment with a 1 3/8" circle punch and then stamped around the edges with just the bouquet part of the For You stamp in Regal Rose. I layered onto a scalloped circle punch in Regal Rose, added a prima and a dew drop and then finished off with a few random Stardust
Stickles.

Mojo Monday Week #39

Happy Monday Everyone! Hope you're all having a fabulous Memorial Day weekend. Hubby and I decided to tackle a few huge projects around the house and have been up to our ears in furniture moving all weekend long. We finally got my ginormous new desk moved the 18" it still needed to go to be up against the wall. Even after buying furniture sliders, it was still a monster of a project! Today we're working on our plan to swap my stamp room with the guest bedroom. Judging by the amount of stuff jammed into every nook and cranny of both these rooms, this is no small feat! Hopefully we get the bulk of it done today.

Although I won't be stamping, I do have a mojo sketch I dreamed up for those of you who actually get stamping time. Hope you have fun with it. My sample uses the Happy Forest stamp from Stamping Bella and the sentiment is from the Great Expectations set. All of the patterned paper is from the SEI Black Orchid Collection, and I even paper pieced the trees using the paper. I used the diamond cuttlebug embossing folder and some thin gingham ribbon to finish off the card.

As always, you're free to use any stamps you like and use the sketch as inspiration to jump start your inner mojo. Here's the drill... if you make a card with the sketch, just link me up in the comments of this post so I can come check out your creation. If you've got your link to me by Sunday at 8 PM Mountain time (6 PM ET), I'll include it in the slide show next Monday. If you happen to upload to SCS, please use keyword Mojo39 so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

Check out last week's fabulous creations in the slideshow below:



NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!

SWOAP-ing

Hey everyone! This was one of those rough weeks. Not bad per se, just lots of curve balls thrown my way, making me SOOOOO ready for a long weekend. Since it was such a rough week, tonight I sat down to do something that I rarely get to do anymore - Stamping With Out A Purpose. It seems there's always a reason to stamp - a birthday, a holiday, Design Team commitments, new releases, challenges, sketches, etc. And while all those things are fun, sometimes it's nice to just sit down with no expectations and see what happens. I'm not too much of a girly girl, but whenever I get a chance to stamp just for me, I almost always pick a stamp from Stamping Bella. They're just so fun to color, and you can glam them up all you want without feeling like you overdid it.

So tonight I reached for Twinkle Fairy, who has been sitting uninked on my desk for over a month now. Tsk! Tsk! I just loved the way Shannan paired her with the sentiment in Filigree Fantasy, so I totally had to make a card with those two stamps. I started out just by embossing her in black on Pearlized Bright White paper. Next I colored her with Copic markers, sketched a little frame and added accents with a Stardust gel pen. I then embossed the sentiment, "Sprinkle each day with kindness" on Vellum Cardstock and tore across the top to layer over the image panel. I finished off by adding some Stardust accents to the Vellum and then adding three tiny aqua rhinestones to the fairy dust. The two designer papers are from the DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies Stack. They're so glittery, it just makes me happy! :) I taped the two pieces together, tied a pink taffeta bow across the seam and then used a corner rounder for a scalloped border across the pink edge. Then I punched a 1/8" hole in each scallop and placed a tiny pink rhinestone inside each hole. Card base is Soft Sky.

I've also received some fabulous RAK's lately that got buried in the big rush to tear apart my office for the arrival of my new office furniture last weekend. I've dug them out and shared them below.

The first one is a Blogger RAK from Stephanie H. This card is just so lovely. I love the rounded corners and the dimension of the beautiful flower from Embrace Life. Stephanie wrote the sweetest note inside too about how much she enjoys my sketches. I've definitely been struggling with trying to fit time for those sketches in lately and it was really encouraging to read her note. Thanks Stephanie -you totally brightened my day!

The second card is from Colleen M. She sent this as a thank you for the Verve stamp sets she won as blog candy on Jen del Muro's blog. It's so pretty and happy, I smile each time I look at it. Thanks so much Colleen!

The last card is from my friend Lostabella, er... I mean Cindy Brockes. I call her Lostabella because, well she drops off the map from time to time. But she's found again and we had a little virtual stamp day over the phone a few weeks ago and it was such a blast. She always puts so much attention to what the recipient likes into her cards. I know she made this specifically because she knows I love asian art and cats, and it turned out beautifully. Thanks Cindy! I love it.

And I also need to show this Hello Kitty loot that Lisa picked out for me on her trip to Hawaii. Isn't that so cool???! A Hello Kitty pez dispenser!!!! And the cutest little Hello Kitty notepads. She also sent me this awesome SU! Sweet Dreams hostess set that I've been wanting. I just love that sentiment that says "Sometimes on the way to a dream you get lost and find a better one". That totally describes my journey to Verve. Thanks so much, Lisa! You totally made my day!

Soft Olive Vase

Oops! I got sucked into my day and totally forgot I hadn't posted yet. Today's card is my attempt at Amy's Super Sketch Sunday challenge this week. I did stray a little, but I got all the patterned papers in there. :) I had determined to do the sketch to the letter, but when I cut out my vase, I forgot to leave room for a sentiment below it, so modifications were necessary.

I thought the color challenge over at Verve was kind of fun, so I decided to play with just a few of the colors again. I love the Soft Sky and Olive together, but I kind of wish now that I had used a different color than pumpkin pie. Something about the card seems a little off too me. Maybe the ribbon just gave it too boxy of a feel. Anyhow, I started by inking the solid vase from Floral Whimsy with Soft Sky and rocking just one side and the bottom edge in Old Olive, for a little shading. Next I stamped the outline vase in Old Olive right over the top of it and added the stems in Old Olive as Well. I stamped the small flower clusters in Soft Sky on each blade and then one down at the base of the vase. Next I added some shadows with a soft gray marker.

The sentiment is from Wonderful Wishes and is stamped in Pumpkin Pie and punched out with a 1-1/4" circle punch, then matted on Soft Sky prints and Bali Breeze designer paper. The background panels are the same lines of DP as well. I finished off with a little Soft Sky Double Stitched ribbon and some dotted accents with an Old Olive marker and a few highlights with a mixture of Dazzling Diamonds and Diamond Glaze.

Birthday Hoopla

Happy Wednesday! This morning I actually got a chance to stamp, so it's been a pretty good day so far. I needed a birthday card (I actually need several, but only one got made today), so I pulled out the Floral Whimsy set and some We R Memory Keepers Hoopla paper from the White Out collection. The layout is this sketch Colleen posted almost a month ago, and I'm just now getting to. I really loved the circles in the sketch. Unfortunately I made a thumbprint booboo near the bottom corner of my image panel, so I had to move the second circle to the bottom, but other than that I stuck to the sketch.

I started by stamping the vase in Old Olive on Pearlized Bright White, next I stamped the stems and then added a little interest to the vase with the small two dots stamp in Old Olive. Next I took one of the flowers and stamped on each stem with Purely Pomegranate and colored in with a Pretty in Pink marker. I sponged around the edges in Soft Sky and then pierced a row of holes along the top and bottom edge. Next I cut a circle from Soft Sky prints and a larger one from the Hoopla paper with my Nestabilities dies and stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from Fancy Florals Remixed in Purely Pomegranate. I added the Prima Majestic Blue flower with a pearl brad in the corner. For the horizontal strip I used a corner rounder to make a scallop border, and then layered a strip of Soft Sky that I embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder over the top of it and tied a knotted bow with some vanilla taffeta. I finished off with some Frosted Lace Stickles on each of the flowers. My finished card is on a 5" square card base of Soft Sky.

Black Orchid

I'm having back spasms today, and since my stamping time wasn't overly productive, I'm showing you a card I made a week or two ago. Sometimes I just sit down and play with layouts, then let them marinate for about a week, making little tweaks before I turn them into a Mojo sketch. Other times I just sketch something out on a napkin or envelope or whatever's handy and then make the card. This card was the beginning of this week's Mojo sketch. I made a few alterations to the final sketch, but you can see the "bones" are there. I must admit that I like the tweaked layout much better than this first one.

Something in this new Black Orchid paper by SEI just called my name when paper was 40% off at Michael's a few weeks ago. The colors are so crisp and exotic paired with the tropical floral designs in the paper. I figured that the Fancy Florals set could go along with the tropical feel, so I started by stamping the solid flower in Taken with Teal and then stamping over it with the detailed flower in Versafine Onyx Black. Next I added a row of flower centers from the Thoughtful Florals set across the top and bottom edge. I cut three of the different designs from the Oasis pad to fit across the 5.25" panel and then stamped the sentiment Guess you're pretty hot stuff now." from Great Expectations in the bottom corner. I then wrapped a polka dot American Crafts ribbon around the image panel and secured with dimensionals for some added height. I finished off with a turquoise rhinestone in the center of the flower.

Just because.

I'm so ready to start another week! Sometimes Monday's seem so full of hope, like we get a fresh new start every 7 days. :) I have plans this week for designing some new sets, so it's a week I've been looking forward to for a while.

Today also kicks off the May Project Parade over on the Verve Blog. For the next two weeks, the design team will be sharing their cards for this challenge with you there. And we'd love for you to play along. Just make a project using the colors in the graphic I've included (similar colors from other companies, as well as neutral colors are okay) and leave a link to your project on this Verve post by May 31 to be entered into a random drawing to win $15 in Verve Bucks.

When I first saw the suggestion for these colors I wasn't sure what to think. Most of my cards are two colored cards, rarely can I pull off three, so I knew four would be quite the challenge. But once I got playing with the colors I got really excited. This combination can go a lot of different ways depending on which color you make your dominant color.

For my card (using the Mojo38 sketch), I pulled out the Floral Whimsy set. I started with my focal panel, by stamping the butterfly off the corner a little and then again on some Cameo Coral cardstock and stamping the dotted accents on each wing. I liked the accent stamp so much, that I decided to stamp some black grasses and then add the dotted stamp in Cameo Coral to each blade. Next I sponged around the edges with So Saffron and then Pumpkin Pie and set aside. For the horizontal panel, I just cut three pieces of cardstock (so saffron, cameo coral and soft sky) to a total width of 5.25" and taped them together. Next I loaded up all of the individual flowers in the Floral Whimsy Set onto one acrylic block and stamped across my panel in Versafine Onyx Black. I used copic markers co color in each flower in a coordinating color, so that they would stand out a little more. Next I picked one of the larger flowers and stamped one and popped it up on each panel for a little added dimension. The background of the card is Pumpkin Pie embossed with the circles embossing folder.

The sentiment is from the Fluttering By stamp set. I stamped it on a scrap of Soft Sky prints paper and then punched out with the small SU! oval punch. To finish, I just matted things on black card stock, added some gingham ribbon, popped up my cardstock butterfly wings and flowers, and then added a bit of Diamond Glaze/Dazzling Diamonds mixture to each of the dots on the focal panel and the centers of the popped up flowers.

Be sure to check out the totally cool card Shannan made with this color combo.

Mojo Monday Week #38

Happy Monday Everyone! This week I've got a really fun sketch for you. At least, I think it's fun, because it allows you to use more colors and/or patterns than usual. If you don't have an oval punch, feel free to use another shape or a rectangle, but do try to keep it separated from the main image. I really like how my sample card turned out, but you're going to have to wait a little bit to see it. I'm writing this at 2:30 AM, and am just too tired to blog about it right now. ;) I just wanted to make sure to get the sketch posted so y'all can start your week off right, though.

As always, you're free to use any stamps you like and use the sketch as inspiration to jumpstart your inner mojo. Here's the drill... if you make a card with the sketch, just link me up in the comments of this post so I can come check out your creation. If you've got your link to me by Sunday at 8 PM Mountain time (6 PM ET), I'll include it in the slide show next Monday. If you happen to upload to SCS, please use keyword Mojo38 so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

Check out last week's fabulous creations in the slideshow below:



NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!

Scooby Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

Hi Everyone. Sorry I've been MIA the past few days. In addition to the Verve release on Friday, the new office furniture I ordered 5 weeks ago came this morning, which meant after hubby and I packaged up all the Friday orders for shipping, we disassembled our entire office, removing everything from the room. We worked through the night, finally finishing up about 6:30 AM, with just enough time to go to breakfast and take an hour nap before the delivery truck came with the new desk. We're definitely getting to be too old to pull all nighters like that! But the desk is here, it's gorgeous, and it has a keyboard tray! Hooray!

Okay, enough blabbing.. here's the card for today. This is one I made for The Cat's Pajamas using the It's a Mod, Mod, World set. The designer paper is all from the BasicGrey Archaic collection. I started by stamping the rocket in Versafine Onyx Black three times, one on a cream solid, one on a blue solid, and one on a patterned paper from the Archaic pad. Then I cut out the blue and patterned pieces and paper pieced onto the cream, which I had stamped with the stardusty stamp in Smoky Gray. I then added accents all over the place with my stardust glitter pen, so in real life it shines a bit more than the photo. The sentiment is one of my favorites from TCP called Captured. It says, "You've captured the stars. Now go for the moon." Isn't that just cool? I finished off with a knotted bow with some chocolate American Crafts ribbon.

VERVE Peek: Petals & Stems and Fluttering By

Hi everyone! Today's card is a super easy one using two of the new sets releasing tomorrow, Petals & Stems and Fluttering By. I kind of just let this cool paper from the We R Memory Keepers White Out Collection do all the work.

The flower, small butterfly and stem are from the Petals & Stems set. I started by stamping the flower in Versafine Crimson Red and then stamped the polka dot center in the same color ink and colored with Copic markers. The stem is stamped in Old Olive, colored in with Copic markers, and then I sketched a ltitle grass in on the bottom of the panel. Next I stamped the small butterfly off the panel in Pumpkin Pie. I then stamped another butterfly and cut it out, coloring with a yellow Copic marker and then adding black with a marker to the antennae and body. I popped up the cut out butterfly and added some stardust Stickles to the wings. I finished off with the Always look on the bright side of life sentiment from the Fluttering By set.

Like what you see? Check out the Verve Blog for more previews of these two sets and a chance to win them for your very own. But hurry, you have to enter before midnight ET tonight to be eligible. Winners will be announced along with our new release on May 16.

VERVE Peek: Filigree Fantasy

Today I'm sharing with you a card made with the Filigree Fantasy set that Verve will be releasing this Friday. I'm proud of all my sets, but something about designing this set made me feel like a "real" artist. Yes, I will admit, sometimes I feel like a pretend artist. Having never taken an art class or had any formal training in design, I just sort of wing it each time I sit down to design. I played the clarinet for years, and my band instructor used to get so annoyed with me that I wouldn't tap my toes and count the music. I just played when it felt right and that's kind of my approach to designing.

For my card I wanted an elegant french country feel, so I decided to go with a classic cream, black and soft sky color palette. I first cut a 3" square of black cardstock and placed it with repositionable adhesive in the center of my cream 5.25" square. I then stamped each corner with the flourish. I designed each of the open ended flourishes with a notch in the bottom so they could be lined up with corners, squares or rectangles without masking. Next I took a 2.75" square of cream and stamped the small open square from the set on the diagonal in the center on the top and bottom edges. Next I took a different flourish and stamped it coming out from opposite sides of the two stamped squares. In the center I stamped one of the quotes from the Floral Whimsy set we previewed yesterday.

For the corner accent, I used a stamp I designed to fit within the smallest of the corner punches from the SU! photo corner punch. I stamped it first, then punched out and matted it with the larger black punch. I originally colored the inside of the square and the circle with a Copic marker, but the color looked too different once I added the Soft Sky ribbon, so I paper pieced the inner square in soft sky and then just took a 1/8" circle punch of soft sky and layered it over the circle on the photo corner. The back panel is embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and then matted with black and Soft Sky. Finished card size is 5.5" square.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out the Verve Blog to see more previews of this set and enter for a chance to win!

VERVE Peek: Floral Whimsy

Today starts the sneak peeks of the new sets over on the Verve Blog! Hooray, it's such an exciting week! Not only are we releasing four new sets on Friday, but we're also announcing the newest addition to our Design Team. Woohoo! Another Verve Diva that I know y'all are gonna love! So today's preview set is called Floral Whimsy and it's a set of 29 stamps with all sorts of floral possibilities, and a few fabulous quotes thrown in for fun.

This is the Mother's Day card I made for my MIL this year. For my main image I started by inking the solid round vase in Pixie Pink and then rolling the edges in Purely Pomegranate to give a shadowed effect. I absolutely love how this turned out. Next I stamped one of the smaller greenery stamps in Old Olive and then finished off each blade with one of the flowers in Purely Pomegranate. Next I colored each flower in with a pink Copic marker and then shaded around the finished image with a light gray marker. The panel is matted on Purely Pomegranate and then on Old Olive.

I knew for my layout that I wanted to use a circle for the sentiment panel, but the Happy Mother's Day stamps from Happy Thoughts just didn't fit the size of punch I wanted to use. So I started looking through my stash and realized that I could use the Happy Father's Day sentiment from the Father Figure set to extend the Happy Thoughts set. So I inked up just the Happy from Happy Father's Day! and then inked just the Mother's from the Mother's Day stamp from the Happy Thoughts set and then inked just the Day! from the same Father's Day stamp. I love that it was all able to fit on a 1 1/2" circle, and since the stamps are clear it was easy as pie to line them up. I finished off with one more flower on the sentiment panel and then added a tiny little pink rhinestone to the center.

The paper is from the White-Out collection from We R Memory Keepers. I saw it at the LSS the other day and went a *little* crazy. In my defense, I had a full punch card, so I couldn't waste my discount, could I? LOL! I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of this paper on the ole blog, here, because I am in paper love! ;)

So what do you think of the new set? Want to see more? Well skedaddle on over to the Verve Blog to see the eye candy the design team has for you using this set. And if you read all the way to the end, you just might find out how you could win this set for your very own! :)

Mojo Monday Week #37

Happy Monday Everyone! Sorry for the delay this morning, peeps. Looks like I'll be buying a new printer due to my shipping label mishap. :( Some weeks just start off on the wrong foot, ya know? Well, I'm determined that this is going to be a great week, regardless of the printer. We've got four new Verve sets releasing this Friday and I'm back with another Mojo Monday sketch! Hope this one jump starts your week and gets you creating some rockin' cards! :)

As always, you're free to use any stamps you like and use the sketch as inspiration to challenge your inner mojo. Here's the drill... if you make a card with the sketch, just link me up in the comments of this post so I can come check out your creation. If you've got your link to me by Sunday at 8 PM Mountain time (6 PM ET), I'll include it in the slide show next Monday. If you happen to upload to SCS, please use keyword Mojo37 so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

I decided to do the sketch this week TCP style, using the It's a Mod, Mod World set and some of my favorite TCP pirate stamps. Isn't Errol just a cutie? I started by stamping the white tv on two pieces of white cardstock and one piece of Storm Grey cardstock then stamping Errol so he would be in the center of the picture on one of the white pieces. I then colored him in with Copic markers and a Spica glitter pen and then trimmed out just the picture portion of the TV. Next I cut out the main portion of the TV from the gray cardstock and then pieced my two cutouts onto the tv stamped on the white cardstock.

I then decided my TV needed a rug under it, so I took the large spaceship stamp from It's a Mod, Mod World, turned it upside down and stamped underneath the TV. I then just took a black pen and went over the white lightning bolt for a little interest to the rug. The image is framed with Nestabilities Rectangle cut outs. The Ahoy There sentiment is stamped on aqua paper and then cut and attached to the side of the main image panel. The ric rac was actually ivory, and I dyed it with a Copic marker to match my color combo. I think this sketch is simple and clean, but has a lot of possibilities. Can't wait to see what you all come up with.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the start of the sneak peeks for the Verve sets releasing this Friday! These are some of my favorite sets so far, so you won't want to miss them! Oh, and the Star-Studded Sale ends on Thursday, so if you're wanting to stock up on the star sets, you best be skedaddling. ;)

Mojo Madness Winners & Slide Show

This month's Mojo Madness Honors go to...

JanTink of Stamps, Paper, Scissors.

Michelle W. (sf9erfan).

Congrats Janine and Michelle!!! Email me your addresses and your choice of Verve stamp set and I'll get your goodies on their way! Thanks everyone for playing, I love seeing your work! The judging seems to get harder every time. Everyone submits such beautiful cards. Be sure to check out all the entries in the slide show below.

I'll be back later with Mojo Sketch #37. I'm having a printer emergency - a shipping label decided to attach itself to the magenta toner cartridge and now the inside of my printer and everything it prints is soaked in magenta ink. EGADS! What a way to start the week! So, the new sketch will be a little later today, but I promise it's coming! ;)



NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!

Joy of the Lord Magnets

As mentioned previously, I've been working on an order for some magnets using the Serenity set. Now, I normally don't sell any of my projects or cards. On occasion, a family member asks for a special project, and I take that on, but for the most part I'm just too busy to take on any additional projects. My Mom gave me a couple months heads up, plus this is one of my favorite stamp sets to work with, so how could I say no? :)


I decided to go with some soft spring colors paired with Chocolate and vanilla for the main color scheme. These are all made using lightweight coasters diecut with my Nestabilities dies. I did scallop circles and squares, and also some squares with rounded corners (using a corner rounder punch). The pink and soft sky papers are from the SU! prints collection. The guava is from the Blue Hill Crate Paper collection and the Moss is from the Tres Jolie My Mind's Eye collection. Each image panel is SU! watercolor paper cut and embossed with Nestabilities dies. I then added the solid flower stamp in the main color and overstamped it with the sentiment in Versafine Vintage Sepia. The paper flowers are from the BRIDE's collection at Michael's and I inked them with a coordinating marker for custom colors. They are finished off with a half pearl from Stamping Bella and some accents on the stamping with a Clear Spica glitter pen. Each magnet is about 3" wide. I used adhesive strip magnets from Wal-Mart cut down to size for the backs. The magnets with the rounded corners have chocolate taffeta ribbon tied across instead of a flower embellishment. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Super Sketch Matilda

Today I have a card using Amy's Super Sketch Sunday layout and my new Matilda Muffinbread stamp (if you must go and buy this stamp, it's ultimately Jen's fault for enabling me!). Isn't this stamp just too cute? I love playing with fairy stamps, because it makes me feel like I can use whatever colors I want. For this one I pulled out some scraps from the SU! Bali Breeze DP pack and just started cutting. Matilda is stamped in Versafine Onyx black and colored with Copic markers. I then highlighted her with a clear stardust pen and added a doodled frame and a light coating of Stardust stickles to the muffintop. The sentiment is from the Thankful Blossoms set. I finished off with three aqua rhinestones on the top and a shimmer paper flower with some polka dots from my Pink Stardust pen.

Okey dokey, I'm off to a meeting with my accountant. Hope y'all have a groovy day.

Candyland Winner

The lucky winner of the Father Figure set is ....

Anthonette who said...
1. Last music you listened to - Martina McBride (on someone's blog)
2. Last thing you watched on TV - "Moving Up" on TLC
3. Last movie seen - Horton Hears a Who
4. Last book you read - A New Earth
5. Last person you spoke to - Kalino, my 4yr old
6. Last thing you ate - chocolate w/almonds...busted!
7. Last time you laughed - today...my 4-yr old is funny
8. Last place you visited - San Jose Museum of Art...robot exhibit today with my Sweeties
9. Last web site you visited - Jen Tapler's Blog (http://jentapler.blogspot.com/)
10. Last thing you crafted/created - ribbon flower

Thanks everyone for playing! It was so fun to read everybody's "Last's". Anthonette, please email me (there's a link on the sidebar) your snail mail address so I can send out your set. :)

I'll be back in a flash with today's card. Just have to go fight with my camera first.

Mojo Monday Week #36 - Mojo Madness CONTEST

It's the first Monday in MAY, and that means it's time for another Mojo Madness Contest! To participate, just make a card using this sketch and leave a comment on this post with a link to your project by Sunday, May 11 at 8 PM Eastern. Once all the entries are in, I'll pick the TWO entries that I think are the mojo-est of them all. Those two winners will each receive their choice of ANY Verve stamp set! Sound like fun? Well, let's get started! If you upload your cards to SCS, please use keyword Mojo36 (no space between Mojo and 36) so we can see them in one place. As always, you can use any stamps or products your heart desires. If you're hoping to be crowned the mojoest of them all, remember to stay as true to the sketch as possible.

I've been working on some magnets in Soft Sky, Pretty in Pink, Groovy Guava and Mellow Moss lately. I really like the way all the magnets look together all lined up in a row, so I decided to combine the four colors on one card using the scraps on my desk. I pulled out my Serenity set, since that's what I've been using on the magnets and first stamped the solid smaller flower in Soft Sky and then stamped over the top with The Joy of the Lord is My Strength in Versafine Vintage Sepia. The rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory. It's made mostly from scraps of patterned paper. The moss is the solid side of some Tres Jolie paper by My Mind's Eye (cuttlebugged with the Swiss Dots folder), the Guava is the solid side of a piece of Blue Hill paper by Crate Paper, and the pretty in pink and soft sky scraps are from the Stampin' Up Prints packs. The flower is from the BRIDE'S collection at Michael's and it's finished off with some SU! chocolate taffeta and a glass pearl from Stamping Bella.

And to start your week off right, check out the fabulous entries for last week's challenge. These cards are hot stuff! ;)



NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!

Candyland Tag

I was tagged the other day by Linda [Stamping in the Moonlight], and since I am procrastinating cleaning the house, I thought I'd play along this morning.

And I'm going to tag EVERYONE! Yep, that's right, I'm feeling like a National Scrapbooking Day giveaway. So just leave me a comment on this post by Monday at 10PM answering the following 10 questions. I'll pick a random winner on Tuesday, May 5 who'll receive a Father Figure set.

1. Last music you listened to - Ashlee Simpson's new album
2. Last thing you watched on TV - LOST
3. Last movie seen - Baby Mama
4. Last book you read - Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb
5. Last person you spoke to - my hubby, Mark
6. Last thing you ate - popcorn
7. Last time you laughed - last night, watching 30 Rock on the DVR
8. Last place you visited - Jackpot, NV
9. Last web site you visited - Jen's Blog -[http://iheart2stamp.com]
10. Last thing you crafted/created - Magnets, magnets, and more magnets (my mom ordered a bunch). I'll show them to you later.

TGIF

Some weeks Fridays seem even better than normal. This is one of those weeks. I'm so ready for the weekend to be here. Do you have big plans for National Scrapbooking Day? I'll be with family celebrating my nephew's birthday and then Lindsey, Rachel and Amy are coming over to help me with a Verve project. Woohoo!

Oh, and there's this fabulous virtual stamp event that Jen Tapler is putting on. I plan on participating, and I hope you will too! There will be all sorts of challenges and prizes, including a Verve gift certificate up for grabs. Jen's father was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's and all proceeds go to the Alzheimer's Association. Anyone who has been touched by this disease, knows what a sad, difficult road it is, not only for the victim, but for all of their friends and family. My family has taken this road, and my heart goes out to all who have to experience it.

Stampin' Out Alzheimers
What: Virtual Crop/Stamp-a-thon to benefit Alzheimer's Association
When: Week-long event begins Saturday, May 3, 2008 - National Scrapbook Day. The challenges will all be posted at midnight (Hawaii time) tonight and you'll have an entire week to submit your projects.
Where: wherever you are -hosted through the Jen Tapler Designs Blog
How Much: Minimum $5 donation to the Alzheimer's Association allows you to participate all week with unlimited entries in the challenges and blog candy give-aways.

To sign up, head on over to Jen's blog and make your donation.

And now for the skinny on today's card. I pulled out my BasicGrey Sugared pad for this one. I really loved the look of the yellow with the pinks and dark reds on the stripey paper, so I went with that for my color combo. I started by stamping the large open flower from Thankful Blossoms twice in Versafine Onyx black on Bright White Pearlized paper. Next I colored with Copic markers and then trimmed out the full flower and then just four of the petals and the center on the second stamped image to pop up and add some dimension. The flower center is a pearl brad I got from Michael's in the bridal section. The two panels are some of the solid papers from the Sugared pack. On the yellowish one I stamped the you amaze me sentiment from Uplifting Phrases over and over again with More Mustard. On the bottom panel I stamped the You're Amazing sentiment from Thankful Blossoms in Versafine Crimson Red ink. I matted everything with Cranberry Crisp cardstock, embossed the back panel with the birds and vines cuttlebug folder, added a pink taffeta knotted bow, and finished off with some spray glitter all over the whole card for a little sugar coating. :)

Have a fabulous weekend, peeps!

Daydream Believer

Hey everyone! Happy Thursday! This morning I woke up with an idea for Jen's SFYTT challenge, so I went directly into my stamp room and made this quick little card. What a great way to start a morning! My nephew turned 13 this week and his party is on Saturday. I've been trying to think of a card I could make that wouldn't be too childish or two girly. I think I found the perfect mix today. I pulled out some of the Daydream paper by Studio 8, and took my color inspiration from there. I stamped the Happy and the Birthday from Happy Thoughts towards the bottom of the Nestabilities rectangle with Basic Gray ink. Next I stamped the large stripey star from Seeing Stars on the grey patterned paper in Basic Gray and punched out with the large star punch from SU! I was only going to do the one star, but I smudged ink on the corner when I was gluing down the grey star, so I quickly stamped the smallest stripey star on the gold patterned paper and punched out with the small SU! star punch. The narrow strip is cut from another section of the patterned paper and glued across the whole card. In the corner I added three screw eyelets I found in my stash the other day. Pretty simple, but I think he'll like it!

Okey dokey, time to skedaddle. I have lots to do this morning, and then my friend Cindy and I are going to have a virtual stamp day this afternoon. We put out headsets on, chat on the phone, and stamp together across the miles! We haven't done it in ages, so I'm really looking forward to it.