Sip and Savor

Hi friends!  Happy Tuesday!  I can't believe it's almost the end of February.  Time seems to be flying by.  I've been wanting to play along with Jen's Sketch For You to Try all month, and this was the first chance I got.  I decided to pull out Sip and Savor and Better with You for this card.  I was super freaked out when I found out that I was pregnant that I wouldn't be able to give up coffee.  But as luck would have it, coffee has tasted SO bad to me throughout the pregnancy that I haven't had more than a sip here and there, which promptly got spit out.  I still dream about it, though, so I'm hoping once the pregnancy is over I'll be able to enjoy a mocha now and then.

Anyhow, you're probably here more for the card than for my ramblings, so here's the scoop...  I started by stamping the little java mugs from Sip and Savor on white cardstock 3 times, then on brown paper bag cardstock three times.  I punched out the white ones, and cut the little java jacket sleeves from the paper bag ones, to piece over the white cups, adding a little shading with a Copic marker.  These circles are matted with black, then glued to a piece of brown paper bag cardstock that I ran through my paper crimper.

For the sentiment piece, I randomly stamped the coffee stain image from Better with You in Crumb Cake on a white circle, then stamped the Sip and Savor sentiment, matted on a black pinking circle and added some liquid pearl accents.  The real red layer is stamped repeatedly with the java background stamp from Better With You.  I added a burlap square, a bit of ribbon and some black star rhinestones for embellishment.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Sip and Savor, Better with You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black (SU!), brown paper bag (Paper Accents), white
Ink: Real Red, Crumb Cake (SU!), Black, Copic marker
Accessories:  Classic & Pinking Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), circle punches (SU!), burlap square, ribbon (May Arts), liquid pearls (Ranger), star rhinestones

Loopy Blooms

Hi friends!  It's the last Monday of the month and that means it's time for a round or square sketch over at Mojo Monday!  I opted for the square version this time and had a lot of fun dressing things up with die cuts.

A week or so ago I saw a faux tile technique out in blogland and thought it would be fun to try.  So my 4" blushing bride square panel is stamped randomly with the blooms from Making a Statement, then I scored in 1" increments with my Scor-pal for a fun tiled impression.  The horizontal piece is Pool Party and punched with a border punch and accented with some flatback black pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Next up, I stamped the graph background from Making a Statement onto a Rounded Rectangle Die cut, then stamped the new Be Okay Plain Jane over the top.  The rounded scallop frame is cut with the Rounded Scallop Frame Die, then stamped with the coordinating stamp from Making a Statement and popped up on dimensionals over the rounded rectangle piece.  A few pieces from the Loopy Blooms Die Set and their coordinating stamps were used to adorn the corner, and I topped each flower with a designer button from SU!

That's all from me today.  Be sure to hop on over to the Mojo Monday! blog to check out this week's sketch and see what the rest of the design team came up with to inspire you this week.  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a fabulous start to your week!


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Be Okay Plain Jane, Making a Statement (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Pear Pizazz, Basic Black (SU!), white
Ink: Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Pear Pizazz, Basic Black (SU!)
Accessories: Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Rounded Rectangle Die, Loopy Blooms Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), border punch and Twitterpated buttons (SU!), black flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Beautiful U

Hi friends!  I'm popping in with a little sample for this week's Viva la Verve! sketch.  It's the last week of the month, so the Divas are mixing things up with a clean & simple sketch.  Play along with all four of the February sketches for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Verve!  All the sketches and details can be found in our VLV forum.  The perfect excuse to hang out in your stamp room this weekend, don't ya think?  {grin}

For my card, I pulled out the You and I set to make a sophisticated little birthday card.  The letter U is stamped in Pretty in Pink and I stamped the scripted beautiful over the top.  I framed the circle with a pinking circles die cut and accented with liquid pearls.  For my horizontal panel, I chose to gather up some wide striped ribbon with a little black scrapper's floss and added a little prima flower with a hot glue gun.  I pulled out my long neglected Swiss dots embossing folder for a little texture then finished off by shabbying up the edges with a paper distresser.  Easy peasy and completely finished in 15 minutes!

Well, that's all from me.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!  We've got a to-do list a mile long of things I'd like to accomplish before the babies arrive.  Hopefully we'll make some good progress over the weekend!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  You and I (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Cream, Black
Ink: Pretty in Pink (SU!), black
Accessories:  Classic & Pinking Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), wide striped ribbon (SU!), black scrapper's floss (Karen Foster), liquid pearls (Ranger), flower (Prima)

Okay

Hi friends!  How's life treating you?  Everything here is going okay.  Our internet has been down all day and I'm trying to take advantage of a brief bit of service, although each letter I type appears about 4 seconds after I type it!  I can't believe all the things I've tried to do today, only to realize I needed the internet to complete it.  It's crazy how much we rely on having information instantly at our fingertips.

Anyhow, today I have this quick little card to share with you.  I was so inspired by Beate's card last week where she used the technique of colored pencils and embossing on black card stock.  I didn't have pastel pencils, but had some watercolor pencils that sort of did the trick here.  I remember having  a little personal slate chalkboard as a kid to do math problems on and thought that would be a fun look for the new Be Okay plain jane. I used both the rounded rectangle and the rounded scallop frame dies layered together to make my "slate".  I added some doodles with the watercolor pencils, including a little heart at the end of the sentiment.

My papers are from the Fun Day Collection by My Mind's Eye, and I added a thin border punch between the two paper designs.  A little printed twill ribbon and an arrow brad accent finished things off!

On the home front, we're getting closer to being "ready" {or as ready as you can be} for the twins to arrive.  I did my first load of baby laundry yesterday, and it's hard to believe these little guys will be small enough to fit these tiny clothes.  Crazy!  Aren't pajamas with feet the cutest thing ever?  I wish I had some for myself.  Well, not right now, but in my pre-pregnancy size... with Hello Kitty on them!  LOL

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Be Okay Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Fun Day Kraft (My Mind's Eye), Crumb Cake, Basic Black (SU!)
Ink: Embossing ink (Ranger), color pencils and gelatos (Faber-Castell)
Accessories: Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Rounded Rectangle Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), border punch (EK Success), ribbon (Creative Imaginations), arrow brad (Spare Parts), white embossing powder (Judikins)

Celebrate

Hi friends!  The weekend flew by and it's already time for another Mojo Monday sketch.  This week's sketch is designed by the talented Mary Fish and was perfect for a masculine birthday card I needed to make.

I started with the Breeze collection papers from My Mind's Eye, then pulled out the Birthday Bash set from Verve.  I paper pieced the balloons and colored the stars with a white gel pen before coating with glue and dusting with glitter.  To keep things masculine, I chose to tie a knot with grosgrain instead of a bow, added some mini brads to the sentiment flag and finished off with some Tim Holtz photo corners.  Easy peasy and just perfect for my Dad's birthday.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous start to your week.  Be sure to check out the Mojo blog this morning for the sketch and inspiration from our design team.  And if you haven't yet, hop on over to Verve, where our Wishing for Spring Sale is going on!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Breeze (My Mind's Eye), Early Espresso Crumb Cake (SU!)
Ink: Brushed Corduroy (Ranger Distress), white gel pen, Early Espresso marker (SU!)
Accessories:  sewing machine, mini brads, espresso grosgrain (SU!), photo corners (Tim Holtz), glitter

Be Okay

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  It's time for another Viva la Verve! sketch and this week's hostess is Laurie Schmidlin.  And as a special surprise, I'm featuring the brand new Be Okay Plain Jane that released this morning.  I was saving this stamp for our next release, but with the babies due in only 4 more weeks, I have no idea when the next release will be, so decided to just release this stamp by itself.  It's a phrase that has been near and dear to Mark and I throughout this pregnancy, and I'm sure we'll continue to say it to each other on a daily basis after the twins are born....  everything is going to be okay.

For my card, I went with a favorite springtime color combo of mine... pink and green.  The papers are from the Victoria Gardens collection from Echo Park and the butterflies are from Verve's Twitterpated set.  I added some ribbons, liquid pearls and some rhinestone bling along the sides to dress things up, but still stayed pretty true to Laurie's sketch, other than moving the bow a bit.

I hope you'll get a chance to play along with Viva la Verve this month.  We post a new sketch each Friday and if you participate in all 4 of the February sketches, you'll be entered in our drawing for a $100 gift certificate to Verve!  All the challenge details can be found in our Viva la Verve forum on SCS.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous weekend, and be sure to check out the new Be Okay plain jane.  And while you're there, don't miss the Wishing for Spring SALE we have going on, with many of our favorite springtime sets and dies 15% off through March 4!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Be Okay Plain Jane,Twitterpated (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Victoria Gardens (Echo Park), Blushing Bride (SU!) Black, White
Ink: Blushing Bride (SU!), Black
Accessories: Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Circle Punches and wide striped ribbon (SU!), gingham ribbon (May Arts), liquid pearls (Ranger), rhinestones

Be Still

Hi friends!  Happy Valentine's Day!  I haven't shared any art journaling with you for a while, mostly because I haven't been doing any.  I do have this teeny little page I created a while back that seemed like a good pick for today.

The Making Of:
The page is done in a mini journal measuring 3.5 x 5", so the surface is slightly smaller than a card front.  It's really a manageable size if you want to get your art on, but don't have a lot of time.  The Psalm 46:10 plain jane is stamped onto some dictionary paper and the hearts are cut from a paper doily using the Heart Trio CutUps from TCP.  The background and coloring is all done with Neocolor II crayons and I added some doodling with a permanent ink pen and a little rub-on down the side for some added texture.

The Inspiration:
I created this page back in September, the day after I found out we were having twins.  To say my entire world felt like it had somehow come unhinged would be an understatement.  This Psalm 46:10 verse was one I kept repeating over and over to myself in the hopes of calming the rising panic in my soul.  Be still and know that I am God.

As you probably guessed from the colors here, I was hoping for girls.  It wasn't long after I created this page that we found out we were having boys and I haven't done any art journaling since.  I had intended to remake this page in blues and greens, but somehow my heart just isn't in it.  I still cry sometimes when I think about two little boys running around the house.  Several family members were convinced I was having girls, and I got so many Hello Kitty baby things from them right at the start that I even get a little sad when I see Hello Kitty now.  I've had to box up all of my HK stuff just to keep myself sane.  And once again... Be still and know that I am God.

Although my babies will be boys, the heart of this journaling page still fits... a prayer that God would bless our family and that I would remember that it's all in His plan, and not in my hands.  So there are two little hearts below, representing our two babies, and a heart within a heart up top representing Mark and myself. 

And with less than 5 weeks to go I am FINALLY starting to feel a little excitement to meet these two little boys that will share our world and our hearts.  I know they will be perfect for us... and I'll continue repeating this verse throughout their lives ...  Be still and know that I am God. 


Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Psalm 46:10 plain jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: dictionary page, 3.5 x 5" Visual Journal (Strathmore), paper doily
Ink: Neocolor II artist crayons (Caran d'Ache), black pen
Accessories:  Heart Trio CutUps (TCP), rub-on

Enchanted Flutter

Hi friends!  It's Monday again, and that means it's time for a new Mojo Monday sketch!  This week's sketch is designed by the fabulous Mary Fish.  I so love Mary's modern style and enjoyed taking a cleaner less-is-more approach to this card.  Be sure to check out the Mojo Monday blog for the sketch and some fabulous inspiration from the Mojo Design Team.

I pulled out my new Everyday Enchantment papers again and also decided to play with my new Labels Collection Framelits Dies from SU!  I stamped the girl from Twitterpated on a circle die cut, then also on the patterned paper, making sure her shirt would have the butterfly design in the center, then paper pieced the shirt and bow and colored her face and hair with Copic markers.  The butterfly is stamped in peach parfait and cut out with the All Aflutter Die Set.  I colored with copics and added some dazzling diamonds glitter for a little sparkle.  The sweet little sentiment is also from the Twitterpated set and I finished off with some dry embossing on the card base and one rounded corner to set things off.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a super creative start to your week!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Twitterpated (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Everyday Enchantment, Peach Parfait, Early Espresso (SU!), Cream
Ink: Early Espresso, Peach Parfait, Crumb Cake (SU!), Copic markers
Accessories:  All Aflutter Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Labels Collection Framelits (SU!), Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, mat pack (SU!), Quickie glue pen, adhesive rhinestone, Classic and Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), embossing folder (Sizzix), corner rounder

dream. believe. hope.

Happy Friday, friends!  Friday means it's time for a new Viva la Verve! sketch and this week's trendy little sketch is designed by Sankari.  Play along in all of our February Viva la Verve! sketches for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Verve!

I pulled out the new Wings of Love set for my sample card.  I love how this set can be used for so much more than Valentine's and here I've made a little encouragement card for a friend.  The papers are from the Everyday Enchantment Sale-a-bration pack from SU!  The heart is stamped on the patterned paper, then cut out and popped over the winged heart image, which I hand trimmed with scissors.  A little Dazzling Details added some shimmer to the wings, then I stamped the three different words in lucky limeade, pool party and calypso coral, making a little sentiment flag.  Next it was just a matter of playing with some fun new embellishments to finish things off.

That's all on the card front.  This weekend is my baby shower and I'm excited to see some friends I haven't seen in quite some time.  Our house has slowly been transforming over the past few weeks and it seems so weird to see baby strollers and play pens and such when I walk around.  Seems like it must be someone else's house.  I'm sure our cat definitely agrees!  LOL

Anyhow, I hope you have a fantastically creative weekend.  Thanks so much for stopping by!


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Wings of Love (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Everyday Enchantment, Early Espresso (SU!), cream
Ink:  Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake (SU!)
Accessories:  Dazzling Details, Calypso Coral baker's twine, mini library clips, satin pleated ribbon (SU!), paper distresser, adhesive pearls, corner rounder

Soar

Hi friends!  Can you believe it's Monday already?  Where DOES the weekend go?  Since we're right back in the thick of things, that means it's time for a new Mojo Monday sketch.  And since it's the first sketch of a new month, that means it's CONTEST time!  We'll have up to 7 winners, so be sure to play along for your chance to win!  All the details and inspiration from the rest of the design team can be found over on the Mojo Monday blog.

This is one of my favorite cards I've made in a long while.  I love this sketch by Debbie Carriere, and it just seemed to flow with the concept I had in my mind for the Wings of Love set.

I started with the winged heart image, stamped onto a Labels 14 die cut, then colored with some of the new Copic colors.  I added the little heart duo inside the heart for a little interest and traced around my hand cut black mat with a stardust glitter pen, for a little frame.  The papers are from the Kissing Booth collection by BasicGrey and I embossed the on and the wings of love sentiments in white, then lightly traced over them with a sand copic marker to dull the color a bit.  The soar. sentiment is stamped onto a die cut shape and then clipped on with a mini library clip and a black dream string bow.  I accessorized with some scrunchy velvet/organza ribbon from my stash, then added the mini butterfly (colored with copics to match), two triple pearl stick pens and some black pearls in the corner to accessorize.  The card base is debossed with the hearts embossing folder and I added one little rounded corner for interest.

Well, that's all on the card front.  I hope you have a fabulous start to your week and find a little time to fit some mojo in this week!


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Wings of Love (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Kissing Booth (BasicGrey), Black, cream
Ink: Black, Versamark, Copic markers
Accessories:  Labels 14 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Mini Tabs Foursome Die-Namics (MFT), hearts embossing folder (Sizzix), mini library clip (SU!), corner rounder, creamy white resin butterfly, basic black dream string, triple pearl stick pins, black pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Diva Inspirations Hop!

Hi friends!  It's the 5th of the month and that means it's time for our monthly Diva Inspirations Hop!  Hop along to the Diva blogs on the hop list for a chance to win a $30 gift certificate to Verve.  If you came from Jen Tapler's blog, then you're hopping along on the right track.  If not, you can check out all the details, view the full hop list and start from the beginning over on the Verve Blog.

For my hop project, I made some invitations for my upcoming baby shower.  Since I haven't been feeling very well lately, I had planned on just purchasing invites, but after looking at a few stores and not finding anything I liked, I decided it would be easier to just make my own.

One of the few foods that has tasted good to me during my pregnancy is Thai food.  And it seems like every time we go we get a different waitress, but the response to my twin belly is always "You SO Lucky!"  It makes me giggle every time I hear it!  So when I sat down to make the invites, I immediately thought of the Lucky Ducky set, which allowed me to stamp 2 little duckies in a row, representing the twin boys that are on their way in 6 weeks or less.  (And because I love these little duckies so much, Lucky Ducky is the Stamp of the Month for February and is currently 40% off!)

I knew I had quite a few to make, so I tried to keep the design somewhat simple.  The twin ducks are stamped and their beaks are colored with Prismacolor Pencils.  I stamped the frame from To the Moon above them, then stamped the "snips and snails and puppy dog tails" sentiment on a square of pool party cardstock, adding a trio of stars in the corner, then gluing onto the frame.  The you're invited flag is cut from Lucky Limeade with the Easy Rosettes CutUps, then cut in half (so I could have two flags with only one cut) and I stamped the you're invited sentiment from Small Phrases before stapling to the card base, which was embossed with the stars and swirls embossing folder.  Pretty simple, totally mailable and oh-so-cute.

Well, that's my project in a nutshell.  Thanks so much for stopping by and be sure to check out the Verve inspiration at the next stop on the hop... Lynda.


Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Lucky Ducky, To the Moon , Small Phrases (Verve Stamps)
Paper: White, Black, Pool Party, Lucky LImeade (SU!)
Ink: Black, Pool Party (SU!), Prismacolor pencils
Accessories:  Easy Rosettes CutUps (TCP), tiny attacher (Tim Holtz), Stars & swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), round-it-all

Courage

Happy Friday, friends!  It's a new month and that means it's time for a new series of Viva la Verve! sketches.  This week, Amber is kicking things off with a fun sketch for a long card.  Check out the Viva la Verve! forum for the sketch, all the details, and then play along with all of our February sketches for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate from Verve!

For my sample card, I pulled out a favorite set of mine... Blue Skies.  I love this courage poem by mary anne radmacher and had the opportunity to speak with her this past week.  She's just as kind and inspiring as her words and I just had to use this stamp on my card.  The lovely papers are from the Devotion collection by Creative Imaginations.  I added a few scored lines at the bottom of the card and a bit of distressing to jazz things up, but stayed pretty true to the sketch for once!

The butterfly from Blue Skies is stamped onto cream cardstock, and then I used the matching All Aflutter Plain Jane to stamp on patterned paper, cut out and pop up over the butterfly image.  A lacey circle mat, liquid pearls accents and two smoked topaz czech rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty finish things off nicely.

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Blue Skies, All Aflutter Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Devotion (Creative Imaginations), Early Espresso (SU!), Cream
Ink: Early Espresso (SU!), Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  Lacey and Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Bisque Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Scor-pal, Smoked Topaz Czech flatback rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty)