A Case of the CASEs

I've been doing a lot of CASEing around here recently...I love it when my blog peeps do all the heavy lifting of creating a card and I just copy it in my own way!
First, a birthday card for my dad:

based on this card by Lindsey of Bashful Blogging (see her post here).

Of course, I had to use that same Echo Park paper because it is awesome, and I also used the reverse side for the red and white stripe border.  I used a Silhouette file for my airplane.  I also notice that Lindsey is way better at taking pictures of long cards than I am. 

I also cased two cards recently from Emily of Art from the Heart, starting with a New Year's card

based on this card (see her post here).

When I commented that I needed that skyline die immediately, Emily was kind enough to tell me it was on sale this week, but the $10 price tag was a bit too steep for me, so the Silhouette came to the rescue.  I found a good image of the Birmingham skyline with lots of contrast between the sky and the buildings, then traced it in the Studio.  I added some squares for windows using the duplicate and space vertically/horizontally functions (added bonus: instant confetti!).  I embossed the Market Street sentiment onto some black shimmer paper.  The best part?  The little heart bling is the building (and floor) where we had our wedding reception.  Awwww! 

The second card that I cased from Emily was a thank you card for one of my students who gave me a de minimus gift (because, yes, the new Alabama ethics rule says you cannot give teachers a gift that is worth anything, because couldn't a teacher be bribed into giving a good grade if they got a cruise for Christmas from one of their students?  Could someone please tell me what school district is having parents give cruises at Christmas, and do they need any math teachers there?)

based on this card (see her post here).

I feel somewhat bonded to Emily's card, since I helped Em make the logos on the Silhouette.  I kept mostly the same layout, but added the Market Street Vintage Notepad in blue because I thought it made it look more high schooler-y.  The "thanks" is an old Cuttlebug die, and I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the ends.

So what are you doing New Year's Eve?  Mr Corgi and I have a nice grilled steak dinner planned and hopefully some good crafting time (well, for me, anyway.  Mr Corgi will probably get some good X Planing time!).  Stay safe out there, kids!

Market Street December Sneak Peek

Angelica has planned a little mini-release for this month, and here is my sample of It Takes Love, which will be available starting Thursday at 7pm Central.  For one whole week after that, new sets are 15% off individually or 25% off if you buy the release bundle.

I'm almost ashamed to admit how easy this card was to make!  I made the card base with the heart cutout on my silhouette, then did an offset border and added a rounded rectangle cutout for the patterned paper.  I adhered the twine in between the cardstock and patterned paper, then sandwiched the twine between two stamped circles.  All that was left after that was to stamp the sentiment.

I want to thank Market Street Stamps again for such a wonderful time on their design team!

(and also thanks to everyone who left sweet comments on my last post-I'm hoping to find the right balance and still be able to do some craftin' and bloggin' next year. :) )

This blog has gone to the dogs!

Well, ok, maybe it's gone to the dogs already, but this weekend there's going to be lots of mangy mutts hanging around...starting with these three chihuahuas from Market Street's Pawprints on our Hearts set:

If you're visiting from my Market Street blog post today, you may have noticed the addition of some hats.  The Santa hat stamp is from Paper Smooches, but it was the perfect fit for those pups!  I even added some Snow Writer for some fluff (and I hate Snow Writer, so the recipient better appreciate that fluff!). 

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you may have noticed the extravagant use of shimmer paper on this card--I used it for the letters, hats, and scarves because I DON'T NEED TO HOARD IT ANYMORE!  meredemaison gave me a good tip on some Hobby Lobby packs, which I finally got around to buying with a coupon (did you know the Hob Lobster is also selling some Echo Park paper packs now?  With a coupon, that's a pretty sweet deal. Make sure you check the scrapbook kits aisle, too, they were hiding some Little Boy and Walk in the Park packs there).  The same night, I went to Michael's and what do I spy?  A DCWV Shimmer Paper Pad!  Yes, I bought that, too.  The Paper Source (Hobby Lobby) one is nice because it has a solid core, but there were some colors in the DCWV I had to have.  Long story short, Christmas came early to Corgi Creations in the form of shimmer paper!

Other tidbits: The scarves are from Market Street's Cool Cats set and are a little snug on the chihuahua, but close enough for me.  The patterned paper is Echo Park and the sentiment is a Silhouette download. 

How are your holiday preparations going?  I think I have almost all of my shopping done, except for Mr Corgi.  Any ideas?

Market Street Designer Showcase

Due to the Thanksgiving holidays, some of the Market Street Designers were a bit delayed in getting inky with the new releases, so today Market Street is having a Designer Showcase of all the fabulous new sets!  I used two sets, Essential Holiday Elegance and Flurries, to make another quick-and-easy Christmas card.

Could that background be any more gorgeous?  I'm amazed at how well all those intricate snowflakes stamped (I'm also amazed that I'm still waiting for the ink to dry, even after hitting it with the heat gun.).  I stamped the sentiment on a strip of white paper, added some Echo Park Dots and Stripes paper, and a fabulous card was finished in under 15 minutes.

Make sure to check out all the other inspiration at the Market Street blog. Remember, from now until December 7th, all new release stamps are 15% off or you can get 25% off plus free shipping if you order the entire November Bundle, so don't delay!

Market Street Block Party!

Yes, it's time for another Market Street Block Party!

I used the new Prancer and Essential Holiday Elegance sets to make both a clean-and-simple AND quick-and-easy card:

Doesn't Prancer look stunning in silver?  This would be so easy to mass produce for Christmas!

Tomorrow Market Street will showing off all of their new sets, so make sure you check out the blog!

Market Street Geek Love

Who's ready for some geek love?

I've been wanting to make a graph with the Pretty Perfect Grid ever since I got it in my hot little hands.  I started by stamping the grid in gray onto gray cardstock, leaving a bit of a border. Of course, we all know that you should always label your axes, and the two sentiments from Simple Joys were perfect to show my love for the hubby growing over time (to really geek out on you, I wanted it to be an exponential graph, but I think I would have gotten to x = 4 before it went off the card, so I went with the linear equation y = 2/3x + 1).  I thought about just adding some bling for the points, but then remembered this small little heart from Gone Campin' that was the perfect size!

Then, being the good stamper that I am, I clean off the sentiment stamps and start putting them back on the sheet, when what do I spy?   Yes, there is an actual equation in Simple Joys.  It was like Angelica knew there were geeks out there wanting to make a love graph.

One more note: If you enjoyed this post, thank your math teacher.  Or any teacher.  Maybe get your kids in the spirit of Thanksgiving and have them write thank you letters to their teachers.  Maybe write one yourself to that teacher that inspired you to _____.  Believe me, it will make his or her heart grow-and this time it definitely will be exponentially!

Market Street/Twinery Fishhook

As my dad always says when we pull in the driveway..."Fishhook!  End of the line!"  If you've just come from Monique's blog, then congratulations on making it all the way through the blog hop!  If you're just stumbled upon this fishhook (ow!), then you'll want to start back at The Twinery and leave a comment on each blog in the hop for both today and Friday in order to be entered in the big drawing.  You have until Friday, November 25th to comment.  The Twinery is giving away a free ultimate sampler pack and Market Street Stamps is giving away a $25 gift certificate!

I must give props to both Mr Corgi and my pal Emily for this card.  Emily always has the most creative, out-of-the-box inspiring ideas for using twine, but it was Mr Corgi who came up with the idea of cross-stitching with it using the cane background.

After I worked out the letters on a scrap sheet, I pierced the holes, then just backstitched the letters.  Doesn't the Computer Cutie look so happy to be blogging?

Here's a close-up of the stitching:

Hope you enjoyed the Twinery blog hop, and if you looking for some more nerdy cards, make sure you tune back in here tomorrow!

Market Street Says BOO!

Time for my Market Street Stamps post! As soon as I saw the Halloween release from Market Street, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for this post.  I even sent out an email calling dibs on the idea.  So I hope you're ready for the spookiness that is about to occur...

Yes, you totally just jumped out your seats, didn't you?  It's a Halloween tree filled with Market Street's Sweet Spooks and Night Owls, two sets that are so cute they make it hard to spook (so I admit I added some extra spookiness in Picnik).  The tree is just a discarded branch that I spray painted black.  I stuck some oasis foam in an old black container, stuck the branch into the foam, and then hot glued some moss on top.  Then I just started stamping, embossing, cutting and hanging!  Here are some close-ups:

I used some Echo Park paper for the owls (look how nice that solid one stamped!) as well as for the orange tags that I stamped the skulls onto (as well as some spiders as you'll see later).  I embossed the webs onto vellum and added a black rhinestone to each one for the "spider."  The bats were embossed onto dark gray paper, then I accented their fangs with a white gel pen.

Here you can see that cute spider hanging out on some polka dotted paper, as well as glimpse of the fancy pearl I added to the skull.  Mr Ghosty was a bit too ephemeral to catch on film, but you should be able to spot him in some of the other pictures.

I also made this sign to go with the tree.  I just love some fun fonts, don't you?  The bat paper was in a $1.00 pack at Walmart, which I used to cover an 8x10 canvas.  I cut the words out of vinyl using my Silhouette, then added some Market Street bats using glue dots.

Here's one more look at the whole she-bang:

Happy Haunting, everyone!

Sometimes there's nothing else to say

This is for Bev's HYCCT "Looking in on You" challenge to make a window card. Sometimes there's nothing else to say except life isn't fair and sometimes it just sucks, and usually dealing with cancer is one of those times. The inside of the card has one of my husband's quotes: "Sometimes you're the windshield; sometimes you're the bug."  (Alternate version: "Sometimes you get the elevator, sometimes you get the shaft.")

If this card seems familiar, I made a red version a while back for the Market Street blog.   This is some new Aspire Petallics shimmery paper I got--thanks for everyone's suggestions on where to find some metallic paper.  I will definitely be checking out Hobby Lobby and discount stores soon.  This Aspire stuff is pretty, but also pretty thin (almost copy weight).  So the good news is the Silhouette cuts through it like butter, bad news is you couldn't make a card base out of it.  This set uses Market Street's Gone Campin' set and if you've been eyeing up some Market Street, this week is definitely the time to do so!  Be sure to check out the blog for the newest anniversary deal AND sign up for the new "neighborhood" ning forum for an added bonus. 

This second card is for Wanda's "Hang in There" challenge. I colored and paper pieced this sweet little Sugar Nellie stamp, who now looks a bit tipsy when she didn't before.  I took advantage of the two sided Amuse paper so she'd have a night sky background color.  Although now I'm thinking I should have stamped some stars back there.  But I didn't and I can't because (YES!) I mailed off 12 cards to MD Anderson yesterday.  The postal worker only looked at me a little askance when she saw I had written "LOVE ENCLOSED PLEASE DO NOT BEND" on the envelope.  They should add that to their "anything potentially fragile, perishable, liquid, or hazardous" question.  I can't tell you how much mailing that package helped lift my mood during a difficult month and I would highly recommend playing along!

Only one book today since it's almost dinner time, and don't mock me for liking it!

It's the newest Chet and Bernie mystery!  As told by Chet the dog (aka "Chet the Jet")!  How could I not love this entire series?  Oh, except for the end of the one book where Chet has a suspicious lump which is TOTALLY NOT COOL!  Why would Spencer Quinn do that?  I think he got told to wise up, though, because within the first couple pages of the next one the vets calls and everything is ok. WHICH IS HOW IT SHOULD BE.  I would definitely recommend this series if you like (a) mysteries (b) dogs or (c) dogs and mysteries.  Amazon Link.

Dude, You Bling.

Two more Hope You Can Cling To cards today! Not only is this first one for Lori's Bling your Cling challenge, but also for Market Street's Special Edition Block Party.  What makes this Block Party so special?
A) It lasts until next Wednesday.
B) You get to vote for the winner.
C) The winner receives a $50 gift certificate to Market Street. Every month.  FOR A YEAR.
D) All of the above!

Plus Saturday marks Market Street's first anniversary, and Angelica has planned LOTS of awesomeness!  Check the MSS blog or my sidebar for more information.  Hope to see you there!

Now onto the card:

I really don't do bling a lot, so I spent some time going through my stamp index trying to find a good stamp to bling.  When I saw the little dots surrounding the compass and then found out that they were the same size as my tiniest bling, well, I just started a-blingin'!  (Ok, technically I stamped the image first, then started a-blingin'.  Well, to be truly technical, I stamped the image first, then colored the bling with a copic, and then started a-blingin'.)  And because I'm the type of gal that plans ahead, I ran out of bling with two dots left.  AAAAAH!!!!  Fortunately at the bottom of my bling pail, I had a small set of A muse bling that had the same size, plus a heart that was just calling to be used as well.

Now we go from pink, clean, and simple to masculine and grungy for Dani's Real Men Wear Pink challenge:

This card was just fun to make.  I used A Muse's Rock Star along with PTI's Grunge Me stamp sets.  Look how crazy I went with the Fresh Ink Slate Blue distressing!  Yes, rock stars may break guitars, but you know you're really a rebel when you have a 1/4 inch streak of blue and you don't start over!

What makes you feel like a rebel stamper?

Dia De Los Mercados

Yes, for those of you questioning your 9th grade Spanish skills, it is the Day of the Markets.  Well, at least the day of the Market Street Paint the Town challenge!  Take a gander at the gorgeous color scheme:

So this was the thought process on my card...."hmmm, I'd like to use my new October Market Street stamps, but I'm not really sure if these colors could work for Halloween."  Then Angelica mentions on the October stamp reveal that the little skull from Spooky Sweets would be great for Dia De Los Muertas cards.  I vaguely remember something about this holiday from my Spanish classes, but then again, the only C I've had on my report card came from a Spanish final, so I asked Angelica to fill me in:

Dia de los Muertos is Nov 1st, and it's a holiday celebrated in Mexico. The idea is to celebrate the lives of loved ones you have lost. Dia de los Muertos art is typically skeletons (our loved ones) celebrating the things they loved to do the most when they were living. Or, just happy and enjoying the after life. In Mexico, people build shrines and visit cemeteries where they bring all of their deceased loved one's favorite foods, music, clothing, anything, really. I saw a shrine in Chicago one time of a soldier who had died overseas. This particular shrine was very elaborate and had me weeping. The beauty was knowing that building the art of the shrine really helped his family cope. I think it's a great way to grieve and still keep those you've lost close to you. 

You can also find more information here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead  Doing a little more interweb research, I loved all the colorful drawings that celebrated the day and decided to try to create my own with that cute little skull:

Ok, I should have totally warned you about putting your sunglasses on to view this card!  And yes, I did add some yellow to the mix because I had to have four colors for my image.  Since I don't really do "random" or "doodles" (I mean, if I could draw, I wouldn't have to stamp, right?), I had to figure out someway of making a fun hand-drawn pattern and decided to try my hand at some Zentangle patterns. I thought the middle pattern was reminiscent of a marigold, a flower commonly used during Dia de los Muerta, and even though the bottom layer was named "feathers," it looked close enough to leaves for me.  It really was very soothing drawing and coloring in the pattern, especially since I did it while watching some Friday Night Lights.  I finished the card by tracing the Nestability blossom die onto white paper so I could add a tiny mat (otherwise everyone's eyes would have exploded from the patterns) and added a touch of bling to Miss Skully's headband.

Be sure to check out the rest of the samples and link up your own creation on the Market Street Blog!

Oh, hello, it's MSS Block Party Time!

Just dropping in to say hello on this fabulous World Card Making Day!  Not only is it WCMD, but it's also Market Street's Block Party weekend!

Woot woot!  Go here to link up your MSS creations for a chance to win an awesome prize pack or a guest designer spot!

I used the new Sweet Spooks set for this cute little spider--there's even a little web line stamp for him to hang from!  I stamped him on some A*muse Sleepy Hallow paper and paper pieced him with some Smokey Shadow.  The orange paper is Echo Park.  Aren't you in love with that fun Halloween-y but not scary font?

Would you like to know something I'm not in love with? Ugh, the new "titanium" blades from Fiskars. I bought a set to try in my cutter and they cut worse than the old non-titanium blades!  Look at that nasty edge!  Has anyone else had issues with them or is it just me?  I've even been trying the magazine-page-under-the-paper trick and it helps, but it's still a gross edge.   I think I'll be stocking up on the cheap blades for now.

Happy WCMD, everyone!

Market Street Sneak Peek Day 1

Yup, it's Market Street Sneak Peek time again!  I have a quick little sample to show you for a fun little set called "Happy Pumpkin."

Quite the happy pumpkin, eh?  This was so super easy to make, too!  I downloaded the gable box from Silhouette and cut it out, then stamped the spiderweb all over it (the spiderweb is from another set that is sneaking today called Sweet Spooks).  I stamped the pumpkin and cut it out, then attached it with foam tape.  The sentiment is also from Happy Pumpkin; I stamped it, cut it out with a nesties four label, then tied it on with some Twinery onyx twine.

All the sets will be available Thursday at 7:00 Central.  Make sure you head over to the MSS blog to see some more sneaks of today's sets and come back here tomorrow for another sneak!

Market Street Sketch Challenge!

It's the third Wednesday of the month, which means it's Market Fresh Sketch time!  Visit their blog to see all the details and design team samples.  Here's the sketch:

and here's my take:

I knew I wanted to use this map paper paired with the Market Street Compass stamp, but I was having trouble coming up with the other two elements of the sketch.  While looking through the goodies that came with the paper pack, I found this "be true" slip.  Perfect for the horizontal piece!  The pack also had  a list similar to the one shown, but the scale was too small, so I just typed up my own and printed it out.  I stamped it with Market Street Vintage Notepad background, but sadly I don't have a notebook border punch.  Instead, I marked equal spaces along the side, punched the holes out with my crop-a-dile, then tore from the side to each hole.  Adding some distress ink really made the look!

To continue the "treasures found at the bottom of pioneer grandma's suitcase" theme, I decided to use the cracked glass technique.  If you haven't heard of it, you basically stamp your image (I also added some distress inks), then emboss the whole thing multiple times with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel.  At some point, you can also try to get a giant glob of embossing enamel onto your thumb while you're heating it, but I'm not sure I'd recommend that step (unless you're looking to go into bank robbery using only your now fingerprint-less thumb).  Pop it in the freezer for a few, and then gently crack it.  You can then sponge some more distress ink on it, then wipe it off to really accent the crackled look.  Here's a close up:

In other news about being true to yourself and having eyes that clear and hearts that are full, I hope y'all saw that COACH TAYLOR won the Emmy for best actor!!!!  YES!!!!  I may have jumped out of my chair and started clapping when they announced the win.  So I think I will end this post by linking to this picture, and if that smile isn't just infectious, well, I don't know what is.

Market Street Compass	Market Street Vintage Notepad	Pink Paislee Daily Junque Map	Rough Typewriter Font	Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel	Antique Linen Distress Ink
Wild Honey Distress Ink	Vintage Photo Distress Ink	Papertrey Ink Rustic Cream Cardstock	A Muse Studio Slate	A Muse Studio Wheat Cardstock	A Muse Studio Bermuda Ink

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Two for the Price of One!

(to get the full effect of this post you really should yell the whole thing, and perhaps pretend you're flipping through the channels late at night)  

"Hey y'all, it's Meg, here today with a special deal for just for you.  I'm going to show you how to get -yes, TWO!- cards for the price of one. Now, I know what you're thinking, 'Meg, is it difficult to make two cards at once?' "
"Oh, my, that was just what I was thinking!  So is it difficult?"
"Not at all, Suzy Stamper! You can accomplish this in just three easy steps!"
"Wow, I've seen two-for-one cards with as many as fifteen steps and you're telling me we can make them in three?  I've got to see this!"
"Well, prepare to be amazed as we start with the first step.  All you need to do is arrange the leaf diecuts on a 4.25 x 5.5 card base in Silhouette Studio and cut the whole thing out of orange cardstock."
"That seems easy enough.  But what if I don't have a Silhouette at home?"
"We've thought of that, too!  You could easily download and trace a leaf image to cut, use a similar leaf die cut, or even trace a real leaf."
"A real leaf! What will you think of next?  Now what is step two?"
"Step two is really simple...stamp Market Street's Cane onto your card base and then Market Street's Bit of Burlap onto the negative left from cutting out the leaves, as well as each leaf."
"Each leaf!?  But that could take days!"
"Well, it could if you weren't using a Market Street background stamp, but since Market Street's backgrounds are card-sized, you can stamp all of the leaves in one go!  What used to take weeks now takes seconds!"
"Wow!  Those stamps sound amazing!  Does the background also stamp the sentiment?"
"Ok, they are amazing but not magical, Suzy Stamper.  If you want a sentiment on your leaf, stamp it first, then cover it with some removable tape before stamping the burlap.  This sentiment came from Autumn Greetings."
"Oh, I see.  I bet I could handle that!"
"I bet you could, Suze!  Then the final step is just to adhere the leaves to the card base!"
"But wait, you said we would get TWO cards!  What's the secret?"
"Well, the secret is the 'trash' left over from cutting out your leaves!  Layer it over another stamped card base and ta-da!"

"That's all the time we have for, so I hope you try to make your own two-in-one cards with some Market Street background stamps today!"

Supplies used in today's episode:

Market Street Stamps Bit of Burlap

Market Street Stamps Cane

Market Street Stamps Autumn Greetings

Silhouette 8 Fall Leaves

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