Monday, Monday

Hey everybody! Happy Monday! Hopefully as you read this I'm done packing and am somewhere between here and Montana, on my way to Laurie's! I'd planned to have some posts ready for y'all, but that didn't happen. I did make a couple cards and photographed them, but we'll see if I feel like interrupting the vacay for blogging or not. ;) So just in case I'm not "here" this week, you know where I am!


Today is Monday, so it's time for another Mojo Monday sketch. This one was based off a card I made for our last release. Sometimes I draw a sketch first, sometimes I make a card first, then create the sketch from that. Usually a card I've already made only makes it to the Mojo sketchbook if I liked it well enough to consider making another. That was the case with this card.
For today's project, I pulled out the Because of You set and pulled my colors from some DP scraps that were on my desk. The green paper is from the Sunsplashed line by We R Memory Keepers and the aqua paper is from some Bo Bunny papers. I wanted a sparkly card, so I chose to stamp on pearlized cream cardstock. The flowers are all stamped in chocolate chip, colored with Copics, cut out and then embellished with Stardust Stickles and some tiny rhinestones. I added a little extra bling to the side of circle by cutting a piece from a larger swirl of Bling. I added a little texture to the card, by embossing with the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, then topped it off with a photo corner punch and some more bling.

What's in It?
Stamps: Because of You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Bo Bunny DP, Sunsplashed DP (WRMK), Chocolate Chip (SU!), Pearlized Cream (Paper Accents)
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Bermuda Bay (SU!)
Accessories: Classic Circles (Nestabilities), Swiss Dots (Cuttlebug), photo corner punch (SU!), polytwill ribbon, rhinestones, prima rhinestone swirl

Tropical Birthday

Hey everyone! I can't believe it's Friday night already. Where did the week go? I figured I should change the scenery a bit, so I'm popping on with a couple cards I made with one of the digi papers from the Hot, Hot, Hot Collab by the Digichick Designers. With 47 papers in a gorgeous summer palette and a bjillion little tropical elementy things, this kit is a new fave for me - I just fell in love the minute I saw the preview! I particularly fell in love with one paper with a beautiful color gradation and a palm tree. Ack! I wish I could paper a wall in my office exactly like this paper. Then I could just turn around and be in my own little island retreat any time I wanted! Wouldn't that be nice? :) Anyhow, I digress. This kit and everything else at the Digichick Boutique is 30% off this weekend, so now's your chance to pick up some fabulous new digi supplies and save a little moulah!



Today I had birthday on the brain, since I'm turning 29 for the 6th time in a few hours. I sized the paper down to a 6" square and cut just the portion with the palm tree for my main panel. Next I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from Fancy Florals in Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder. This is matted on a Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities diecut in Chocolate Chip and I added some little dot accents with a white gel pen. The Kraft panel is letterpress debossed with the Textile folder and Chocolate Chip ink. I added a thin chocolate mat and some stitched chocolate grosgrain around a Baja Breeze card base. The corner looked a little empty so I added a little swirl clip that's been collecting dust for a few years.



For the second card, I used another piece cut from the same 6 x 6" square of digi paper, but this one shows the color gradation. I embossed it with the Distressed lines folder and added a chocolate mat with a fiskars punched border. The center circle is stamped with the circle frame from Just for You, the sentiment is from Fancy Florals and the flower is from Beautiful You and colored with Copic markers. I finished off with an embossed Kraft card base, some white gel pen accents, a trio of pearls and some chocolate grosgrain. There you have it - a couple very simple cards so I could say I stamped! :) Hope y'all have a fabulous evening! Thanks for stopping by, I love it when you say hi!

Mojo Valentine

It's Mojo Monday again, and I have a quick little card to share using this week's sketch. Be sure to hop on over to the Mojo Monday blog for the sketch and some beautiful inspiration from the Mojo team.



My card uses the Hearts on Fire set and a sentiment from Flirty Phrases. Both of these sets are 20% off this week, during Verve's Christmas in July sale. I sponged around the inner edges of my circle Nestabilities with Broken China Ranger distress ink, matted on a black scallop circle and used this fun Bazzill Basics Tahitian princess paper that is already embossed with polka dots. I added a tiny scallop border to the top and bottom edges, then cut out and popped up the heart, tied a polka dot bow and added a little metal charm.

That's probably all you'll see from me on the ole blog this week unless I get inspired. I'm continuing my creative break and trying to wrap some work for our August release up before I leave for vacation next week. If you're needing some eye candy, be sure to check out the Verve Blog every day this week as the Divas show you their Divine Details and step you through their design process. I've thoroughly enjoyed the blog articles so far in this series, and I can't wait to read the rest!

What's In It?
Stamps: Hearts on Fire, Flirty Phrases (Verve)
Paper: Tahitian Princess (Bazzill Basics)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Real Red (SU!), Broken China (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Polka Dot ribbon, Classic & Scallop Circles (Nestabilities), Scallop edge punch, stampin' dimensionals (SU!), metal charm (moon dreams jewelery supplies)

Joy

Hi all! Thanks for all the kind words about my plateau post. Y'all are just the best. This morning I woke up and felt like stamping (it's in my blood, ya know?), so that means you get to see a card. At the top of my inspiration pile was this week's TCP Tuesday challenge - a sketch hosted by the fabulous Carole Burrage. Don't you love all those circles? I love circles on layouts, although as you can see here, I substituted poinsettia snowflakes for the circles.




Ever since I got the new SU! In Colors, I've been wanting to see how a Christmas card would look with Rich Razzleberry, Chocolate Chip and Kraft. So I picked my favorite Christmas set from The Cat's Pajamas - Elegant Christmas - and set to work. My DIY background is stamped with 2 sizes of snowflakes in Rich Razzleberry, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White craft ink. Then I just used whisper white on the Rich Razzleberry panel. The poinsettias are stamped in Rich Razzleberry and trimmed out with scissors. To soften the Razzleberry scallop circle mat a bit, I stamped the smallest snowflake on each scallop in Whisper White. An oval sentiment tag, polka dot ribbon, tiny rhinestones and a lot of pop dots finish it off.

Don't you love this set? The images just speak to me every time I pick it up. Now don't get me wrong, I love all of Alma's retro comic images, but these reindeer and poinsettias really move me. One of my favorite sets of all time. And Alma's got a Sizzling Summer Sale going on this weekend with everything TCP 25% off! Now that's something to click on over for!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a fabulous weekend! We've got a BBQ, then the Shakespeare Festival planned tonight and then tomorrow is Game Day with our nephew. It's shaping up to be a great weekend!

The Plateau

Happy Wednesday! Have you ever noticed that right before you make a breakthrough things seem to plateau a bit? It's that way with exercise, with relationships, with business and definitely with creating. Sometimes you spend a long time in the plateau. At first it's comfortable, easy, no surprises. Then one day it starts growing into boredom, drudgery, discontent. It's not that anything is wrong, it's just that everything feels stagnant and stale. You try to push through, you push harder, but it just seems to take more effort than enjoyment to create something you're happy with. You trudge on, you contemplate giving up completely... and then one day the mojo just pours on and you blow past whatever hurdle is keeping you down.



I've seen this cycle many a time in my own creativity. And today I'd LIKE to say that I've just made a breakthrough and my mojo is on fire, but unfortunately I'm still on that plateau. I find myself wanting to stamp less, and work less and try new things and meet new people and have adventures. And those are good things. So I'm giving myself permission to not create if I don't want to, to not work if I don't have to, to meet new people and reach out to those I haven't had time for lately. I think it will be a good change. I think it will be a healthy change. I think it will spur me creatively to the next level, because I know the next level is right there ready to knock my socks off.

So my new craft projects will probably be less frequent here on the ole blog until I find my lost creativity. But if you miss me, I've finally given in to the dark side and joined Facebook. I I'm not here, you can probably find me over there. Friend me if you want, I'll friend you back - especially if you play Mafia Wars or Pirates (LOL)!

Today's card is a plateau card. It's nice, safe, easy, comfortable. Nothing earth shattering, but pretty all the same. But this card is actually going in the mail, which makes it beautiful. After all, the giving is why I started stamping in the first place. Thanks for stopping by!

What's in It?
Stamps: Because of You, Wishful Elegance (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP (SU!)
Ink: Old Olive, Melon Mambo (SU!), Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories: Two Tags die, Finial Press, linen thread (SU!), rhinestones, ribbon (May Arts), prima, button, corner rounder (EK Success), Scallop Circles (Nestabilities)

Mojo Just for You

Welcome to another week! Monday means mojo around here, so let's get right to my sample card for today. I love slanty panels. It goes completely against my need for symmetry, but for some reason it always seems to bring pizazz to a ho-hum card (well, that and the addition of a bazillion itty bitty pearls). LOL!



For my DIY background paper, I chose to start with a Kraft panel and added Old Olive large foliage and Baja Breeze small foliage from Forever in Our Hearts. Then I stamped one of the small foliage stamps from Just for You in the cracks with Whisper White Craft ink.

The main panel is the large foliage stamp in old olive and matted with baja breeze. The smaller panel is baja breeze embossed with the new SU! finials folder and matted with white. The horizontal piece is old olive stamped with old olive and punched with a Fiskars border punch. I stamped the sentiment from Just for You in baja breeze, did a few little second generation stamps of the tiny foliage in the background and then punched out with the Designer Label Punch and framed with Styled Silver Hodgepodge tied with white taffeta ribbon. My final touches were the addition of those yummy little Kaiser Craft pearls.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to head on over to the mojo blog to see the DT's fresh take on the sketch!

What's In It?
Stamps: Just for You, Forever in Our Hearts (Verve)
Paper: Kraft, Baja Breeze (SU!)
Ink: Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Whisper White Craft (SU!)
Accessories: finials embossing folder, designer label punch, styled silver hodgepodge, white taffeta (SU!), pearls (Kaiser Craft)

Welcome Isabelle!

Happy Saturday, Everyone! There’s a new little baby Diva almost here and today we’re celebrating with a surprise shower hop! So come along with the Verve Divas and do the hop, hop, hop to help celebrate the arrival of Charmaine’s new little oodabug! If for some reason there's a break in the hop, just head over to the Verve Stamps blog to see the scheduled list of links for our special surprise hop.

It's no secret that Charmaine loves ladybugs (oodabugs), so when I went to create a graphic for the hop, I just knew I had to design a little oodabug baby. Then the graphic became the inspiration for my hybrid gift ensemble.



I've seen tons of cute onesie projects around the blogosphere lately, and have been wanting to try my hand at printable iron-on transfers for a set of personalized onesies. I just love how they turned out! I designed the transfers on the computer and printed onto Avery Light Fabric Transfers with my inkjet. For the packaging, I re-purposed a bath & body works gift set box to hold the 5 personalized onesies, and wrapped it with some of the yummy Real Red stitched ribbon from SU!. I tied on a tag made with a print-out of the ladybug and pink circle in the graphic, then stamped Congrats from Practically Perfect in the center and matted with a black scallop circle.



I needed a little container to hold another little something, (No, I'm not telling what it is - I have to save at least a little surprise for Charmaine to open!) so I used Kelleigh's Perfectly Square Template Set to design a little hybrid box to match. The four sides of the box say, "Welcome Little Oodabug Isabelle" and I popped up some extra printed oodabugs for some dimension.



To finish off the ensemble, I made a quick little 4.25" square card. I used square nestabilities to emboss a frame on the card base, then simply trimmed out another printed graphic and stamped the "a baby is a bit of stardust blown from the hand of God" sentiment from Practically Perfect. A cute little oodabug punched out with SU! circle punches on the envelope completes the look.



Congrats Charmaine! Wishing you and your little one all sorts of happiness. I hope you enjoy the hop!

Thanks for stopping by! Now hop on over to Michelle's blog for some more cuddly goodness.

Viva la Creme

It's Friday and time for another Viva la Verve! sketch with a {twist}. This week Amber's created a fun sketch with a twist of incoporating scored lines. When DH and I were out and about last week we stopped in at JoAnn's for a quick peek, since I hadn't been in quite a while. Mark saw this La Creme matstack from DCWV and thought it was totally me. And I had to agree - especially since it was 40% off! :) The flocked papers in cream and black are just so classy and elegant.



My card is made with just one sheet from the La Creme 8x8 matpack. It has the flocked border at the bottom of the page, so I cut my panels to make use of the pattern. My lines are scored using the Scor-Pal at the top and bottom of the card and a double-lined frame around the sentiment panel. I used the scoring as guides for my rhinestone placement and stamped a simple sentiment from Wishful Elegance and added a black and cream polka dot bow. I just love the modern twist of polka dots with the classic baroque designs.

What's In It?
Stamps: Wishful Elegance (Verve)
Paper: Basic Black (SU!), La Creme (DCWV)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories: Scor-Pal, rhinestones, polka dot ribbon

Back in the Saddle

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the well wishes while I've been sick. I woke up feeling better than I have for a while. Came downstairs to try to tackle the emails I've missed, saw hundreds of unread emails and decided to make a card instead! Baby steps back into the real world! LOL



My card uses this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch #25. Before I got sick, I organized my desk a little bit and found a pile of this Early Bird Cosmo Cricket paper that hadn't been cut into. I promised myself that I'd use it, so that was my starting point. One of the flowery papers had these big flower centers that I thought would be the perfect size to paper piece the balloon from Up, Up and Away. So I pulled out the set and was off.

Here's what I did:

• Stamped balloon and clouds on vanilla in chocolate chip ink


• Stamped treetops in Old Olive then colored in with Stampin' Pastels


• Cut circles with Classic Circles Nestabilities, then stamped the Up Up and Away sentiment in Real Red


• Used Nestability as a stencil to lightly sponge Soft Sky ink partly around the inner circle


• Added some 3/4" Real Red Polka-Dot ribbon and red Kaiser Craft pearl accents


• Punched out two photo corners in Real Red, then pierced with my Mat Pack template


• Accented photo corners with Playground Designer Buttons, then glued things down and popped up extra cloud and sentiment panel


• Finished off with a light outline with BG10 Copic marker on the clouds, then coated with a mixture of crystal effects and dazzling diamonds

What's In It?
Stamps: Up, Up and Away (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Real Red (SU!), Classic Cream (Neenah), Early Bird DP (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Soft Sky (SU!), BG10 Copic marker
Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Photo Corner Punch, Playground Designer Buttons, 3/4" Real Red Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer (SU!), red pearls (Kaiser Craft)

Razzleberry Dream

Happy Tuesday! I've been sick and spent most of my time on the couch the last couple days, but the arrival of my SU! order lured me in to my studio for a few minutes. Unfortunately, now I think it's back to the couch for me.



This was a quick little SUO (Stampin' Up! Only) card. I like how it turned out, but I think if I were to make it again I might emboss over the top of the geisha with Irridescent Ice to add a little pizazz. I started by stamping the grunge background from Extreme Elements in Pale Plum, then stamping over the top of that with the geisha from Dream Gardens in Rich Razzleberry. You can't really see the background stamping in my photo, but I think it has a cool effect. Here's a a close-up that shows the background stamping a little better.

I used the Notch Punch for the corners, which I just realized must be retired (how dare they?) because I can't find it in the catty. For the sentiment, I stamped another of the backgrounds from Extreme Elements in Pale Plum and then the dream stamp in the center. This panel is punched out with the 1 3/8" circle punch and then matted with the scallop circle punch. The background paper is from the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP and is embossed with the Finial Press embossing folder. I finished off with some Rich Razzleberry Polka-Dot grosgrain ribbon and three brads from the Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware.

What's in It?
Stamps: Dream Gardens, Extreme Elements (SU!)
Paper: Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Razzleberry Lemonade (SU!)
Ink: Pale Plum, Rich Razzleberry (SU!)
Accessories: Finial Press embossing folder, 1-3/8" and scallop circle punches, Rich Razzleberry Polka-Dot grosgrain ribbon, Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Notch Corner Punch [retired] (SU!)

Orange Dreamsicles

Happy Monday! Did y'all have a good weekend? It was hot, hot, hot here. The heat has me thinking of those yummy little cups of orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream with tiny little wooden spoons we used to get at the grocery store on hot days when we were kids. We didn't have air conditioning, so when it got to be too hot to bear Mom would take us shopping to stay out of the heat and one of my favorite treats were those little cups of ice cream on the bottom shelf of the freezer aisle. Good times! I haven't been able to find those for years, and the orange dreamsicles don't taste quite the same, but they're a pretty good substitute when the craving hits.



Well, I didn't actually have an orange dreamsicle this weekend, but my craving inspired this orange and aqua card using this week's Mojo Monday sketch. It's a contest week, so there's a chance to win a free Verve stamp set for participating, so be sure to hop on over there. And while you're there don't miss the fabulous inspiration the Mojo designers have cooked up this week!

For my card, I pulled out some Ocotober Afternoon and Kaiser Craft DP scraps from my overflowing scrap pile and just cut them to size, matting with Pumpkin Pie cardstock. The main image is from the Kindred Spirits set and is inked in Tangerine Tango and then around the edges with Really Rust. I added a little vellum overlay embossed with the diamond print cuttlebug folder to the main background to soften the look of the DP and did a zigzag stitch across the top and bottom to secure it and mimic the zigzag pattern on the American Crafts ribbon I used. The sentiment is from the Circular Sayings set and punched out with SU! circle punches. For a little accent I pulled out a couple orange and aqua primas, folded them in half and layered them in the corner with a decorative brad. The metal photocorner is from We R Memory Keepers and I added a little orange bling to it. Then it was simply a matter of accenting the stamped image and the primas with Diamond Stickles for a super sparkly birthday card.

What's in It?
Stamps: Kindred Spirits, Birthday Wishes (Verve)
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Vellum cardstock (SU!), Ocotober Afternoon DP, Kaiser Craft DP
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Really Rust (SU!)
Accessories: Primas, Deco brad (Making Memories), ribbon (American Crafts), Classic Rectangles (Nestabilities), photo corner (We R Memory Keepers), rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), circle punches (SU!), Diamond Stickles, sewing machine, diamond cuttlebug folder

Hybrid Happiness

Hi all! Happy 4th of July to all my American friends! I've got two family get-togethers to attend today, but I got to start my day off with a little papercrafting! And in honor of the 4th, it only seemed fitting to incorporate some stars into my project.



This little purse uses Kelleigh Ratzlaff's Sassy Purse #3 Template Set, as well as a new digi paper pack by Sarah Jones called Pish Posh Paper Pack. Y'all know my love affair for aqua and brown, so how could I refuse this paper? How fun are those zebra stripes? The whole collection of paper has a mouthwatering color palette that I can't wait to play a little more with. Olive and coral and ruby and aqua and brown and saffron. Yum!



The template made it so easy, so there's not a whole lot to talk about here. I stamped the You're Amazing sentiment from Thankful Blossoms on a classic oval cut out and layered it on a scalloped oval. The punches are the large and small star punches from SU! and I added some star rhinestones I had in my stash. I attached the handle with a star punch and a chocolate corduroy brad and then decided to hang some stars from the handle with clear plastic beading wire. The polka dot bows on top hide the place where I punched a hole through the handle and tied down the beading wire.

Then I made a super simple matching card. I loved the way that my friend Karrie used the negative space from her star cutout on this card, so I had to try it here with my punches. Then I just finished off the super simple card with a polka dot ribbon. Easy peasy! Hope y'all have a fabulous rest of today!

What's In It?
Stamps: Thankful Blossoms (Verve Stamps)
Paper: digi Pish Posh Paper Pack (Sarah Jones), Classic Cream cardstock (Neenah)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Star punches (SU!), star rhinestones, ribbon, clear beading wire

Forever

Happy Friday! I've been having a blast with my brother and sister-in-law being in town, but that means there hasn't been a lot of stamping going on around here. I do have a card I made for our latest release that I haven't shown yet, so here goes.

A lot of times when I get new stamps I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with them once they arrive. Sometimes it's a bit intimidating to jump in since I know that the Divas are going to totally rock their previews. So I like to do a quick little "dip" in the stamping pool with a fast 15 - 20 minute card to get my feet wet before I tackle a more intricate card. This card was my little "dip" for the Forever in Our Hearts set and I really kind of like it. It came together so fast, and gave me a lot more ideas to jump from next time I have some time with this set.



I started by stamping the image in VersaMark, then coloring with Stampin' pastels. Next I stamped it again with VersaMark and heat embossed in clear. Then it's a breeze to just erase all the extra little chalk marks without worrying about erasing the image. I finished out the color with some sponged soft sky for the sky and old olive for the grass, then added the Forever in Our Hearts sentiment in black. I added a little dotted border on the Kraft card base with a black glaze pen. The side strip is punched with the Sunburst fiskars border punch. Hooray, I finally used it without covering it all up! I added some pearl dew drop accents and then some May Arts black taffeta ribbon and hung a little metal heart charm from the bow.

What's In It?
Stamps: Forever in our Hearts
Paper: Kraft, Basic Black (SU!)
Ink: Versamark, Onyx Black (Versafine), Soft Sky, Old Olive, Stampin' Pastels (SU!)
Accessories: Black glaze pen, black taffeta (May Arts), Sunburst border punch (Fiskars), pearl flat backs, heart charm), clear embossing powder

Patience

Have you ever waited for something for what seemed like years and then it just miraculously blossoms overnight? Today I'm going off paper crafting topic a bit to explain the excitement I had this morning when hubby called on his way to work to say that I had flowers out front! EEEK!



I planted these Asiatic lilies the first spring we moved into our house. Just so you don't have any ideas about me being a little Martha Stewart, I'm by no means a green thumb! But I did read the label and it sounded like the conditions were perfect around the tree in our front lawn so I went out and planted six little bulbs at equidistance around the tree. To my great disappointment the lilies didn't blossom the first year. The second year the first little sprouts got plucked by the landscaping crew in a spring clean up. The third year they survived the spring clean-up only to be plucked out by the landscapers when the tulips in the same bed died. This year I've shuddered every time the landscaping crew has arrived, hoping against hope that they would see fit to let my lilies be. I've been rooting for these underdogs. They're tenacious and they just keep gathering up strength and trying again each year. I've watched this year as the plants have grown taller than ever, then started sprouting little pods. Then the pods grew plumper and plumper, until today.... two little beautiful blossoms! And look at all those little pods - there's an abundance of lilies just ready to burst onto the scene!

Sometimes I feel like these tenacious little flowers. I keep getting up, poking my head out of the ground, almost blossoming, then WHAM! something comes by and whacks me upside the head. Then it's back to square one - starting over, growing a bit taller, believing that someday my blossoms will have their day in the sun. Well, for my lilies, that day is today, and I can only believe that my day will come soon, too. It might by 4 years from now, it might be tomorrow, but it will happen. I'm a fighter, a believer and a survivor!

You're the BEST

Happy Wednesday! Today I have a really short and sweet post for you. I used the larger fleur de lis cluster from Kindred Spirits repeatedly in a pattern to create the background in Regal Rose. The fleur de lis frame is stamped in Regal Rose, then again in Chocolate Chip so I could punch out the center with the wide oval punch and add the sentiment. The outer ovals are cut with Oval Nestabilities and I finished off with a fleur de lis border punch and some chocolate and cream polka dot ribbon.

What's In It?
Stamps: Kindred Spirits
Paper: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Classic Cream (Neenah)
Ink: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, (SU!), Classic & Scallop Ovals (Nestabilities), Polka Dot ribbon (Creative Impressions), Fleur de lis border punch (EK Success)