Dance Sing Live

Happy Friday everyone!
Today's card is one I made a few weeks back for one of the Verve swaps I participated in. I think it was the simplest card I made, and by far my favorite of the three designs. I started by inking the top two verses of the sentiment (from the Beautiful You set) with Kiwi Kiss and the bottom verse with Not Quite Navy and then stamped on Classic Cream. I matted this with Kiwi Kiss and a Not Quite Navy long scalloped rectangle that I cut some scallops out of to make fit the length of my sentiment panel. The paper is from the SU! Urban Garden DSP and I made the scalloped edge with the SU! scallop border punch. I added some May Arts cream taffeta in a knotted bow, then embossed a piece of cream cardstock with the Textile Cuttlebug folder.

I finished off with a Not Quite Navy card base and a few little rhinestones on the flourishes of the sentiment. Okay, hope y'all have a fabulous weekend. Today's the last day of the Think Pink sale at Verve. So if you want to save 10% on some really great stamps and support a good cause, hop on over to the Verve store.

Long Time No Stamp

Well, to you it probably doesn't feel like I haven't been stamping much, but my stamping days have been about 5 total in the last month, so I feel rusty and out of practice. Last night I was determined to make something new with one of the stamp sets I bought on my spending spree to try to jumpstart my mojo again. This set is the BasicGrey Granola Bitsy Butterfly. And while this week's SCS Color Challenge of Pixie Pink, Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango is nowhere near the colors in the Granola collection, I did think that it would go well with the happy little butterflies and swirly leaves.

I started by stamping the butterfly two times in Tangerine Tango. Next I stamped the swirly leaves in Kiwi Kiss and added a flower in Pixie Pink. I stamped another Pixie Pink flower, then added some more swirls around the first flower in Kiwi Kiss. I cut out the second set of butterfly wings and flower, then covered them with VersaMark and embossed with Ranger Holographic Embossing Powder for shimmery sparkle. I popped these pieces up over my images, then matted the panel with black to ground the bright colors a bit. The Kiwi patterned paper is from the SU! Urban Garden collection. The Tangerine Tango piece is punched with the Martha Stewart Doily Lace Punch (although as usual, I ended up covering most of it up! LOL) I added some grosgrain ribbon in a knotted bow, then stamped the sentiment from Artful Elegance on a small square cut and embossed with Nestabilities, then matted on the SU! scalloped square punch. I finished off wyth a pearl in the center of the flower and two trios of accents above and below my main panel. These are just 1/8" punches of black cardstock which I glued to the paper and then added Black Stickles to. I finished off with a Pixie Pink card base.

Mojo Monday Week #58

Happy Monday Everyone! Thanks to everyone who played along last week. I've been so incredibly busy I haven't had a chance to comment on everyone's cards yet, but I promise I'll get to them. I hope you're ready for another week of mojo. This week is a simpler layout, but I thought it was a lot of fun.

To play along, just make a card using the provided sketch and leave a comment on this post with a link to a photo of your creation. There is no time limit - you can play any week at any time. If you happen to upload to SCS, please use keyword Mojo58 so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

My sample card uses the new Fright Night set from The Cat's Pajamas as well as a sentiment and flame from Havin' a Pow Wow. I started by stamping the cauldron and coloring the flames with Copic markers. Next I stamped the owl, colored with Copics and cut him out to perch him on the cauldron. I used my paper piercer to pierce a little border around the panel and then matted on black cardstock. The patterned paper is from the BasicGrey Ambrosia Collection, which I matted on black and adhered to the the white card base, piercing a line above and below the panel. Next I cut a circle with my Classic Circle Nestabilities, stamped the Sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black and then stamped just the tip of the campfire from the same Havin' a Pow Wow set. I finished with some Stickles on the flames, some Diamond Glaze on the owl's eyes and a black grosgrain knotted bow.

Just a couple things to mention going on at Verve this week. There's still time to do the Vintage Verve challenge over on the OCC. There's your choice of any Verve stamp set up for grabs, and you have until Friday to get your cards in, so be sure and give it a go. Also, the Think Pink Sale is in full swing. All Verve stamps are 10% off through October 31, plus we're donating 10% of all sales to the Susan G Komen for the Cure foundation in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

OCC Handmade Challenge

Welcome to the WEEKEND!!! First off, I'll get right to the OCC Challenge. This week's challenge is to make a handmade item or gift. Lindsey from Jacksonbelle Embellishments is our special guest this week and she has an awesome project you'll want to check out. Plus there's a special giveaway for this week's challenge, so be sure to visit the Our Creative Corner blog for all the details on how you can play along!

I love to give out little treats and trinkets, so when I saw this cute little treat box template from Martha Stewart, I thought it would be the perfect little package for something small and delicious. I started with a 6 by 8.5" piece of Baja Breeze cardstock and used the template as a guide to come up with cut lines and score lines. Then I stamped the large silhouette from Serenity in Baja Breeze on the two portions that would be the sides of the box. Next I stamped the Serenity Prayer stamp on white cardstock in Not Quite Navy and then stamped the silhouette flower off once on scratch paper and then stamped again over the prayer, for a softer look. I then rolled just the edges of the image in Baja Breeze again and stamped again directly over the stamped image for some shading on the blooms. I matted this with Not Quite Navy, used the Ticket Corner Punch on the corners and glued directly to the box with dimensionals. I made an identical piece for the other side of the box. I finished by adding some layered Primas with a big deco pewter brad to the top of the box and then added some sparkle with Stardust Stickles and a few Kaiser Craft pearls on all the ticket corners.

And if you're craving some new stamps, don't forget the Verve Think Pink Sale going on right now. All stamps are 10% off, plus we're donating 10% of every sale to the Susan G Komen For the Cure foundation.

Verve Think Pink Sale

Today starts the Think Pink Sale at Verve Stamps! All stamps are 10% off, and in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Verve is donating 10% of all sales today through October 31 to the Susan G Komen for the Cure foundation.

Today's card is a flashback to Mojo Sketch #29 and features the Beautiful You and Filigree Fantasy sets. I stamped the Baja Breeze paper with the same color ink with stamps from the Filigree Fantasy set. Next I cut a white circle, grey circle and Kiwi Kiss scalloped circle with my Nestabilities circles. I stamped the flower from Beautiful You in the center of the circle, colored with Copic markers and then painted with a mixture of Dazzling Diamonds and Crystal Effects. The patterned paper is from the SU! Urban Garden collection and I machine stitched the top and bottom, then used the scallop border punch for the bottom edge of the Basic Gray mat. I finished off with the sprinkle each day with kindness sentiment from Filigree Fantasy in the corner.

Fright Night

Happy Thursday! Today's card is one I made with the new Fright Night set by The Cat's Pajamas. It's a pretty simple layout, but ended up being one of my favorite cards I made with the new releases. This frog just cracks me up!

I started by stamping the frog two times side by side and coloring with Copic markers. Next I stamped the frog again, colored in pink, cut out and popped out as the leader of the frog posse. Girl power! :) The vertical strip is embossed on both edges with the dots from the With Love Cuttlebug Embossing Borders set. I stamped the Fright Night sentiment at the bottom, then glued everything to a textured green Prism card base that reminded me of frog skin. LOL! I finished off with a black grosgrain knotted bow and some teeny tiny rhinestones and Stardust Stickles on the frogs, as well as some bigger rhinestones to accent the sentiment..

I'm on 3 year old nephew duty today, so that's all I have time for. Hope you have a fantastic day!

OCC Vintage Verve

Hello All! I'm hosting a little mid-week challenge with a prize over on the OCC this week. The challenge is to use one of my favorite techniques called Vintage Values. Be sure to hop on over and see the vintage beauties the OCC crew came up with!

Vintage Values How-To: Requires 2-3 shades of the same color of ink and a craft sponge. Starting with your lightest shade of ink, use a craft sponge to sweep ink from the outer edges of your cardstock inward as far as you want your glow to touch. Repeat with your next shade of ink, but only sweep about 2/3 as far in (so some of the lighter color still shows in the inner sections). Repeat with the darkest shade of ink (if desired), sweeping with short strokes, only about 1/3 of the way in.

To play along, upload your creation to your blog or gallery, then leave a comment on the original challenge post on the OCC Blog linking to your project so we can check it out. If you upload to SCS, remember to use keyword: OCCC. On Friday, October 31 at noon EST, we'll be choosing one random participant to receive their choice of any Verve Stamps set. If you don't have Verve stamps, feel free to play along with stamps from any company. We never met a stamp we didn't love!

Now, I usually do this technique with browns, but in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I decided to go pink. The three shades I chose to work with are Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose. I started by embossing a couple pieces of Classic Cream cardstock with the Snowflakes Cuttlebug folder, then sponging the edges using the Vintage Values technique. I cut a circle with my Classic Circles Nestabilities, stamped the snowflake from Winter Wonder Remixed in Pretty in Pink and then sponged the edges with the 3 shades of ink. Next I cut a coordinating Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette circle and scalloped circle to mat behind it, and inked up the edges of the scallops. I used the Martha Stewart Fern Branch punch and punched about 10 shapes out of Classic Cream, and then randomly inked the edges with the three different shades of pink ink. I finished off with some Petal Pink liquid pearl accents, some teeny tiny rhinestones on the scallops and some Basic Gray taffeta ribbon.

Mojo Madness Winners and Slide Show

Congrats to October's Mojo Madness winners:

Maria of Scraps by M with this mojolicious card. I absolutely adore the snowflake embellishment and the crisp red bird on white with some good old kraft thrown into the background. Makes me just want to burst into song.... brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things!

Pat of Stamp, Paper and Ink with this fabulous little wintery cottage scene. Can't you just hear the Christmas carols in the background as the snow falls silently all around? Love the glitter, the snowflakes, the swiss dot embossing on the stamped panel and all the sparkle! Just gorgeous, Pat!



Congrats Maria and Pat!
Email me your mailing address and your choice of any Verve stamp set and I'll get your prizes in the mail.

Okay, before you go, be sure to check out all 103 of this week's mojoriffic entries 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!

Mojo Monday Week #57

Happy Monday Everyone! Are you ready to kickstart another week of creativity? This week I thought I'd give y'all a rest from circles. It seems they've been the trend in a lot of sketches lately, so I thought I'd get back to basics and give those circle cutters and punches a break. I hope you have fun with it!

To play along, just make a card using the provided sketch and leave a comment on this post with a link to a photo of your creation. There is no time limit - you can play any week at any time. If you happen to upload to SCS, please use keyword Mojo57 so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

And if you're like me, and finding yourself behind on keeping up with all the fabulous sketches, you still have until Noon today to get your entries from last week's Mojo Madness sketch in. Tune in tomorrow for the winners announcement plus a slideshow of all the mojolicious entries.

My sample card uses the new Fairy Christmas set from The Cat's Pajamas. I started by stamping the fairy on pearlized cardstock and then colored with Copic markers. I painted her wings and the trim on her coat with Pearlescent watercolors. Love the shimmer these paints have! I sketched a little border around the frame, drew in a little shadow at her feet and then matted with French Roast cardstock. I stamped the sentiment and one of the small holly images and cut with a Nestabilities Classic Squares die. The snowflake is a Martha Stewart punch of aqua Prism paper which I painted with pearlescent paints for shimmer and added a large flatback pearl to the center. I used the Martha Stewart doily lace punch for the bottom of the horizontal strip and added some metallic silver ribbon from Michael's. The background is embossed with the Snow Dots Cuttlebug folder.

Getting Sketchy with the OCC

Happy Saturday! This week, Lynda Benden, our October Our Creative Corner hostess with the mostess gave us a fab sketch to play with. Some of the gals from the Jacksonbelle DT are guest hosting this week, and there's a $20 gift certificate to Jacksonbelle Embellishments up for grabs for participating, so be sure to check out the sketch and all the details on the OCC Blog. And you won't want to miss the fabulicious creations from the OCC Crew: Amy, Cindy, Dawn, Denise, Jennifer, Laurie and Lynda.

My card uses the new Fairy Christmas set by The Cat's Pajamas. I stamped the dreamer stamp and colored with Copics, then sketched a little wavy border around her and colored in the border with a Copic marker. The next panel is embossed with the D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder and then I painted over the swirls with a waterbrush and Pearlescent Watercolor Paints for some yummy shimmer. On the pink layer, I stamped the Christmas is for Sugarplum Dreams sentiment and then stamped a little holly leaf beside it. Each layer is matted with a french roast cardstock, and then I wrapped some cozy American Crafts ruffled ribbon around the side. I finished off with some diamond glaze and glitter and a few teeny tiny rhinestones for sparkle.

Hope y'all have a fantastic weekend and find a little happy stamping time to play with this fun sketch!

Project Parade Shadow Box

Hey Everyone! Happy Friday! The October Project Parade is going on right now, and the Verve Divas are really cranking out some incredible projects. It's an easy one this month, so if you have some time this weekend, be sure to play along! This month's focus is on embossing, so that's where I started with my card for today. My color combo came from this week's SCS color challenge {CC188}.

I don't heat emboss very often, mainly because I'm a perfectionist and even the tiniest little fleck out of place drives me batty. But I finally invested in a new Embossing Buddy, since mine was bought at a stamp convention over 10 years ago and had lost most of it's magic dust, so I needed to test it out. I embossed the cupcake from Cupcake Affair in detail black and then colored with a mixture of Pink Pirouette reinker, Crystal Effects and glitter. Well, there were still a few stray specks that ended up embossed on my paper, so I decided to cut out the cupcake. Since it was so sparkly after painting it with the mixture, I thought it would be cool if I could somehow suspend it partially on my card. So I decided to make a shadowbox card, with the intent of just placing the cupcake on pop dots on the back layer.

For the shadowbox part, I took a 4.25 x 5.5" piece of pink pirouette and white cardstock and scored each piece at 1/2" and 1" from either end. Next I cut a circle in the center of the pink piece with a Nestabilities Classic Circle and then cut a smaller circle out of black cardstock and used the negative to frame the inside of the pink circle. I randomly stamped the snowflakes from Winter Wonder in Pink Pirouette and then embossed with Iridescent Ice for a sparkly look. Next I folded along the lines of both scored pieces and then took a 5.5" x 3" strip of acetate and used sticky strip to adhere it to the two outer edges of the white piece. I then layered the pink piece over the top and secured just on the outer edges with sticky strip to form my shadow box. Next I laid everything flat and adhered my cupcake with pop dots to the center of the acetate still showing through the hole in the shadowbox.

Then, all I had left was adding some fun embellishments. I tied a bow with this yummy swiss dot American Crafts ribbon and secured both the bow and the tails with Crystal Effects so that the ribbon would stay in place just so. I added three little pink primas, with mini brads through the center and then added stardust stickles to make the flowers look all wintery. I finished off with some Petal Pink Liquid Pearls accents and 6 sparkly faux brads I made the night before. They're just 1/4" hole punches that I ran through my Xyron create-a-sticker machine to make one side sticky and make them easy to hold in place. Then I covered each hole with Black Diamond Stickles and allowed to dry overnight. This morning I just lifted them off the sticky sheet and put them on the card.

Because I Care

Happy Thursday! Yesterday I had the urge to buy new stamps, because I just wasn't feeling inspired with the ones I had. This is really silly because I have SO MANY stamps, even ones that have been left completely uninked. So I told myself to buckle down and just use what I had, then if I still wanted new stuff I could buy some without feeling guilty about "impulse" buying. LOL!

So I pulled out my most recent SU! purchases and decided to give them a little more loving. I love the look of Eastern Blooms, but I think it's a real pain that the flowers aren't a separate stamp. I want pink flowers and brown branches, but don't want to sit there with my markers all day long to make it so. So I've been snubbing this stamp since I first used it. I had embossing on my mind because of the Verve Project Parade Challenge, so I decided to emboss the stamp in clear embossing powder on white cardstock and then brayered over it with Baja Breeze. Next I cut a Basic Gray mat from a Long Rectangles Nestabilities die. (To make it the right size, I just cut four scallops out of the middle of the rectangle and then taped the two remaining ends together). For the background I randomly stamped one of the single flowers in Pink Pirouette on the same color of cardstock. I tied a Basic Gray taffeta knotted bow across this panel and then stamped the just because I care sentiment from Best Yet in Basic Gray ink in the bottom corner.

To finish off, I added petal pink Liquid Pearls to the centers of all the flowers. Several of you have asked about my liquid pearls technique. I don't know that there's really a trick to it, but here's what I do. I always start out with a dallop on scratch paper. The first squeeze will always be uneven, so it's best to do it on scratch paper. I let up enough that the flow stops, but never entirely release pressure on the bottle (this keeps extra air from getting in the flow of the liquid). Then I just squeeze a little drop out and release the pressure a little. Make sure the flow stops before moving on. Then go to the next and repeat, always keeping the bottle pretty close to the paper. You want light squeezes and small movements.

Well, if any of you were wondering... my plan didn't work! I still felt like buying new stamps, and since Lindsey (Jacksonbelle) had the new holiday papers from BasicGrey and Fancy Pants in stock, I just had to order up some of those pretty Inkadinkado fairies and a few other stamps to make sure I got free shipping! :)

Celebrating Amy!

Happy Wednesday! Today's card is one I've been meaning to make for a while now, but vacation and sickness got in the way of my stamping plans. This month one of the original Verve Divas leaves us. Amy Westerman is such a fabulous designer and has a special talent for combining color and pattern in a way that constantly surprises me. She has stepped down from the team to focus on her family and will be very missed in Verveland. Last week Shannan issued a special challenge on the Verve forum to celebrate Amy's time on our team. The challenge was to make a bright, colorful, cheerful card.

One thing I've learned from following Amy's blog for close to 2 years now is to not be afraid to use that patterned paper you love. So I put the focus of my card on the paper and kept the stamping simple. This gorgeous paper is from the Daily Grind collection by Fancy Pants. Isn't it beautiful? I pulled out Fluttering By because it always make me feel cheerful and stamped the butterfly in black directly on the patterned paper and then added the sentiment, "Always look on the bright side of life." Next I stamped the butterfly once more in Riding Hood Red on white cardstock, then stamped over it in Versamark ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder for a glossy look. (This also fits with this month's Project Parade challenge that kicked off today! Check out the Verve Blog for details.) I then stamped the butterfly one last time on some soft blue paper from the Daily Grind collection. Then I cut out the embossed butterfly and just the inner wings of the soft blue butterfly and layered on dimensionals over the stamped butterfly on my patterned paper. I added some dots to the blue wings with a Ruby Red marker, a few red rhinestones for the body, and some random Stickles to the flower centers in the paper for a little sparkle. Then I finished by grounding the piece with a thin black mat and placing on a Pacific Point card base.

Thanks for all your hard work, Amy! You're such an inspiring stamper and friend.

Balloons

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! Today I'm sharing with you one of my rejected designs for the Verve swap I'm participating in. Now that I look at it, I'm not sure why I didn't decide to make this one. But all of my decisions were cold medicine induced, so who can really say what made me choose an 11 layer card over this one? LOL

The layout for this card is based on one of the flashback sketches in the Mojo Sketchbook. The cardstock is Baja Breeze, which I embossed just the lower portion with the D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder. The designer paper is from American Crafts (Cosmopolitan collection, I think). I used Classic Oval Nestabilities, the SU! scallop punch and the 1.25" and 1 3/8" circle punches. The stamps are from the Birthday Surprise set, and I colored the balloons with markers and covered with some crystal effects, then dusted with some Martha Stewart glitter. I finished off with a few tiny little rhinestones to accent the bow and the circle sentiment.

Mojo Madness Contest - Week # 56

Happy Mojo Monday!
I'm not quite recovered from my battle with bronchitis, but am feeling much better than I was a week ago. As promised, I have a mojo sketch for you and it's a CONTEST week!

To play along, just make a card using this sketch and leave a comment on this post with a link to your project by Monday, October 20 at Noon Mountain Time (There's a clock on the sidebar with the official Poetic Artistry time). Once all the entries are in, I'll pick the TWO entries that I think are the mojo-est of them all. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, October 21 and each will receive their choice of ANY Verve stamp set! There will also be a slideshow of all the entries posted that day.

Sound like fun? Well, let's get started! If you upload your cards to SCS, please use keyword Mojo56 (no space between Mojo and 56) so we can see them in one place. As always, you can use any stamps or products your heart desires. The star shape can be any type of embellishment you would like, or you may leave that layer off if it doesn't suit your card. Just have fun. I can't wait to see everyone's entries! :)

My sample card uses stamps from the new Fairy Christmas set from The Cat's Pajamas. I stamped the fairy and the three little stars randomly in Versafine Onyx Black and then colored with Copic markers. I added a few extra dots with a black pen, and then added some sparkle to her dress and wings with a mixture of Judikins Diamond Glaze and Stampendous Ultra Fine glitter. The circle is cut with the classic Nestabilities out of Prism cardstock. I stamped the Let Your Light Shine sentiment on the circle, and then lined up the three little stars and stamped above and below for a little border. The primas are from the Belle Fleur collection, I layered three together, added a Making Memories star brad and then a little Stardust stickles around the center for a little more sparkle. The background is more Prism cardstock that is embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.

The Shape of Things

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm alive... sort of. :) I had intended to just take a break from Mojo this week, but my bronchitis turned it into a break from everything. I've been coughing, hacking, tossing, turning... everything but sleeping or stamping. Since it's Saturday, I ventured into my dusty stamp room last night to whip up a card for this week's Our Creative Corner challenge. Well, it took way longer than it should have, but I finally eeked some creativity out of my brain.

This week's challenge is hosted by Lynda Benden and is to make a card that's any shape but a square or rectangle. There's a fabulous little prize for a lucky winner this week, so be sure to play along. Our guest designer is the oh-so-talented Laura Fredrickson, and you won't want to miss her sensational card, along with all the other shapely cards from the OCC Crew. For all the details, and to drool over all the gorgeous sample cards, visit the Our Creative Corner Blog.

I decided to go with an oval card so I could use my Petite Oval Nestabilities that have been collecting dust. I started by cutting two of the largest scalloped petite ovals in Baja Breeze. Next I cut a Basic Gray and Classic Cream petite oval to coordinate. I stamped the blooms from Serenity in Basic Gray ink and then colored with Copic markers. I used a classic circle Nestabilities die as a mask to shade in a grey spotlight circle behind the flowers, and then ringed it with some dots with a grey marker. Next I stamped the medium snowflake in Soft Sky and the small snowflake (both from Winter Wonder Remixed) in Baja Breeze randomly around the oval. I layered the ovals, wrapped some silver cord around and then added a Nestabilities tag I had cut out of vellum and basic gray cardstocks. The tag is stamped with the Winter Wishes sentiment from Winter Wonder Remixed).

For the card base, I scored the second big Baja Breeze oval about 1/2" from the top, folded on the score line and then secured the top 1/2" to the back of the other oval with sticky strip. To finish off my winter scene, I added tons of liquid pearls accents to the outer scallops, the snowflake centers, the blooms and the tag.

Okay, I'm going back into my sick cave. Hopefully by Monday I'll be feeling like superwoman again (or at least Vervegirl!) Thanks to everyone for the super sweet get well wishes. You're the best!

Missing Mojo

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that Mojo is sick with bronchitis and is taking the week off. Apparently the very minute you lock in a decision to extend a vacation is the minute your body decides to break down. So I spent a pretty miserable weekend in Vegas, desperately trying to avoid places with cigarette smoke (yeah, right!). We hopped our return flight tonight and I thought my head was going to explode from the eardrums out through the whole flight. It was literally the most excruciating thing I've ever felt. My ears still haven't "popped", and I can't even think straight to begin to figure out a mojo sketch for y'all.

So Mojo Monday is postponed until next week, but it will be a contest week. Hooray!!!
On a good note, Mark ended up placing in a few texas hold 'em tournaments over the weekend and then finished out our vacation with a first place finish in the last tourney he played! Woohoo for him! We did have a really fun vacation, minus the bronchitis, but it's so NICE to be home. :)

Okay, off to take another dose of Nyquil and try to get some ZZZZZZ's. :)

OCC Bling

Happy Saturday! This week's Our Creative Corner challenge is to bring on the bling. Anything shiny will do. I chose to work with some shiny glittery embossing powder I got years ago, as well as some Stickles and a few rhinestones. For all the challenge details, and to see our guest designer, Michelle Boyer's bella-licious creation, as well as the rest of the crew's gorgeous samples, head on over to the OCC Blog.

This card uses one of the Jacksonbelle Embellishments sketch challenges from last month. I had intended to do them all, but ran out of time before we left on vacation, so this is the only one I finished. You know - best laid plans and all. I'm just amazed I was able to get enough stamping done ahead of time to post all week!

Anyhow, back to the card, I stamped the leafy image from the Inkadinkado Foliage Trails in VersaMark and embossed with a coppery glittery embossing powder. Next I brayered over the panel - first with So Saffron and then with Really Rust. I added some piercing all around, matted on chocolate chip and then used a scalloped long rectangle to mat it on. I finished off with a bow across the rectangle and then some yummy Cinnamon Stickles on each little scallop. Glittertastic! The cross piece is from the Ambrosia BasicGrey pad, and I added two We R Memory Keepers photo corners to either end and placed some orange rhinestones in the center of each corner. The background is Creamy Caramel (I think - I can't remember now, and am still on vacation.) I reverse embossed the forest branches Cuttlebug folder, after inking it up with Chocolate Chip ink.

Scrappy Friday

Happy Friday! Today I'm showing you a couple little scrappy projects I made recently. The first one is a little chipboard magnet pretty similar to the one I made for the Some Bunny tin a couple Saturday's ago. Only this one I made using, the TCP Smells Like Cake set. The paper is from the Nana's Nursery collection by DCWV and I added bling to each of the scallops.

The second project is the birthday card I made for my nephew's 3rd birthday. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine, so I just cut up a piece of Thomas scrapbook paper and made a tent card. No stamping on the outside, but the inside has a fun little border. The 3 and the wavy it's your birthday are from the TCP You Say It's Your Birthday set. The happy comes from the So Happy set and the Birthday is from the Happy Thoughts set.

Okay, I'll be back tomorrow with another Our Creative Corner challenge card. Have a fantastic day!

Thoughts of Whimsy

Happy Thursday! I hope y'all have been having a great week. My vacation is going along just great. Tonight we get to go see the Cirque du Soleil production of Beatles LOVE. I'm SO excited! I love Beatles music and I've been wanting to see this show for over 2 years now.

Today's card is one I whipped up before I left with the Floral Whimsy and So Happy sets. I stamped the big and small bunches of flowers across a strip and colored with Copic markers, then lightly sponged the edges with Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa inks. Next I loaded up my acrylic block with all of the single flowers, arranged them randomly, and stamped in Pink Pirouette on the same color cardstock. The DP is from the Laundry Line collection by My Mind's Eye. Everything is matted with Chocolate Chip and I added some American Crafts striped ribbon and bow. I finished off with the sentiment in the corner and then some Stardust Stickles on the flowers.

Ahoy There!

It's supposed to be another beautiful day here in Las Vegas. Today, we're hoping to spend a little time just relaxing by the pool. It's been HOT here, in the 90's every day, so I'm really looking forward to just lounging in a chair, sipping a drink and reading a good book!

Here's another little card I made with the Arrgh! Piratey! set from The Cat's Pajamas. Have you picked this set up yet? If not, what are you waiting for? I can't think of a better set out there for fabulous little boy (and big boy) cards and gifts.

I started by stamping Simon Sees and coloring with Copic markers. Next I sponged the edges with a few shades of Ranger Distress Inks, and added faux stitching with a paper piercer and a brown marker. The sentiment is stamped directly on the red cardstock and then I added some faux stitching, some sponging, and two jumbo eyelets.

For the water, I stamped the wave stamp on blue cardstock and then cut it out to layer over the brown cardstock. The ship is stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa and then I faux stitched and sponged the edges to finish off the card.