Growing in Unity, Day 2

Here we are with my 2nd day of Growing in Unity. Thanks to all of you who visited and left comments yesterday.

I made this card for Mojo Monday 154. I rarely make square cards so this was a bit of a stretch for me. I don't like to pay extra postage so this one measures 4" by 4" and will still fit in a regular envelope.

Here are the details. Cardstocks used are SU Kraft. . .um, I mean Crumbcake, PTI Rustic Cream, Hawaiian Shores, and Smokey Shadow. Patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Max & Whiskers collection. The little bit of ric rac is PTI Black Felt that I die cut using my ric rac die. Stamps used are from Unity's February 2010 KOM {...nothing but blue skies}. I stamped the bird image onto PTI Rustic Cream and colored it in with Copics and Spica glitter pens. I really like how this one turned out and it's always good to have an extra card around to add to my stash.

Be sure to let me know you visited by leaving a comment and come back again tomorrow to see what else I've got in store for you. Thanks for visiting!

Growing in Unity, Day 1

I'm really excited to be in the Unity spotlight this week. I hope you all had a chance to check out Tracy's creations last week. She really rocked it!

I know it's been forever since I've blogged but one of my resolutions of the new year is to get back into it. Since I'm in education, the new year always starts in the Fall for me.



I kind of fell off the blogging bandwagon since work was a little stressful. I just started a new job and don't expect it to be less stressful but since stampin has been my stress relief, I might as well make the most of it :-)

Today's card is a clean and simple one. I find CAS hard to pull off but once I got this one done, I was bouncing in my seat since it worked! Don't ask me how many times I had to stamp the image to get it straight and in the right spot--one of these days I'll get over my Stampamajig fear and maybe I won't waste so much cardstock. Here's the deets on the card. The image is from Unity's July Kit of the Month, Happily Ever After. Cardstocks used are PTI's White and Stampin Up's Basic Black. Ink is PTI Fresh Snow. Ribbon is PTI Raspberry Fizz satin. The corners of the cardbase and black layered are rounded with my Corner Chomper. I colored in a few of the berries on the tree with Smooch Sassy Pink to match the ribbon. This card was made for the Unity Addict's Challenge #15: Black and White with a POP of color. I knew when I saw this challenge I had to do it since I looooooooooooove how hot pink just pops off black and white.

Thanks for visiting and be sure to come back tomorrow.

Bittersweet Ketto

Hello all! I hope that today is a great day for you. We're cooling down a bit in the Bay Area but overall it's still pretty nice out. School starts in less than 2 weeks now--can you believe it?

Here's a card I made for a birthday party dd went to recently. She's in a button phase and asks me to use "lots and lots of buttons" when I make cards so I decided to oblige her.

Here are the details on the card. Cardstocks used were SU Soft Suede, & Melon Mambo as well as Neenah Classic Cream. Patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Bittersweet collection. Buttons are Making Memories.

Tatiana Ketto is stamped onto Neenah Classic Cream in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored in with Copics and Spica glitter pens. I have a lot of trouble when I use reds and pinks while coloring with Copics--they inevitably bleed outside of the lines so I use a lot of colorless blender to try to push it back. Any idea why it happens with those 2 colors? I grounded her with an Amuse Oval that was stamped in Memento Desert Sand. The sentiment is from SU's Amazing to Zany and stamped with Melon Mambo ink. Everything else should be straightforward but feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

Wisteria Tulips

I made this one for one of dh's coworkers. I hope that she finds comfort in it and knows that he's thinking about her and her family.

Sympathy cards are always really hard for me to make. I want them to be elegant but tasteful and not over the top. I think this one does the trick.

Cardstocks used were SU Soft Sky (retired) and Neenah Solar White. Patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Wisteria collection--this paper is simply beautiful and I didn't want to cover too much of it up. I stamped the tulips from PTI's Wishing You onto Neenah Solar White with Versamagic Purple Hydrangea, Aspen Mist, and Aloe Vera. The sentiment from the same set is stamped over one of the stems in PTI's True Black. I then cut and embossed it with one of the Labels One Nestabilities and attached it to the cardfront with Soft Sky striped grosgrain and dimensionals. I finished it off with three purple dewdrops and that's it.

Thanks for visiting and be sure to come by again soon!

Colorful Monsters

As soon as I finished this card, I had a JanTink moment and had to exclaim "YILM!" ( also known as yes, I love myself in JanTink speak). I think this is my favorite card that I have made in quite some time and wish the pic actually showed just how awesome it really is. This is going to one of my 7 yo's friends for his birthday. I hope he likes it :-)

Here are the details on the card. Cardstocks used are SU Bermuda Bay, Green Galore, and Neenah Solar White. Patterned Paper and brads are from BasicGrey's Lime Rickey collection. Stamps are from October Afternoon's Nite Lite clear set. Inks used are Memento Tuxedo Black, Brilliance Sunflower Yellow, and Brilliance Lightning Black. Copics and Spica glitter pens were used to color in the monsters. The corners were rounded with my SU corner rounder and the holes on the green layer were punched with an EK Success Swiss Cheese border punch.

I stamped the monsters on the Neenah Solar White in Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored them in with Copics. After matting it on the Green Galore layer and adding the brads, I fiddled with how I wanted it on the card front since if it was straight, it would be a little too long. I decided to angle it slightly and then added the brads and popped it up on dimensionals. It was still missing a little something so I stamped the arrow onto Neenah Solar White with Brilliance Sunflower Yellow and then stamped the word over it in Brilliance Lightning Black, cut it out, and popped it up on dimensionals as well.

When I was finished, I was bouncing with excitement since it turned out pretty stinking cute! My 7 yo keeps asking to look at it and I'm fairly certain he wants to keep it for himself instead of giving it to his friend.

Thanks for visiting and be sure to come by again soon!

Cupcake invites

My daughter turns 5 at the end of the month and here are the invitations I made for her party. I had to do 2 different colors because she wanted the boys to have blue ones and the girls to have pink ones. I kept them fairly simple since I had to make a bunch of them but I do like how they turned out.

Here are the details. Cardstocks used were SU Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Basic Black, and Naturals White. Patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Lemonade collection. Ink is Versafine Onyx Black. I did a few in Memento Tuxedo Black and didn't get as rich and crisp of a black as I did with the Versafine so I'm wondering if I need to reink my Memento pad or if the Versafine is just a deeper black color.

I used my Hero Arts cupcake set for this one and stamped the cupcake onto both Naturals White and the patterned paper. I paper pieced the cupcake wrapper since I knew that I wasn't going to color in 24 cupcakes. The tops of the cupcakes are colored in with a combination of Pearlescent Watercolors and Smooch so they're nice and shimmery. The cupcakes are cut out and popped up on top of dimensionals on Naturals White which is matted with Basic Black for a little pop. It's hard to see but I stamped a row of circles from PTI's Background Basics: Retro on the cardfront in Versamark Frost Dazzle before I popped up the focal piece on dimensionals. It's pretty subtle but adds a nice effect.

So there you have it--something pretty easy to mass produce but still packs a nice wow since it's got the shimmer :-)

Thanks for visiting and come by again soon.

Button Trees

Here's another card I made with PTI's Everyday Button Bits. The images in this set are so darn cute! I made this for my boss who recently injured himself--hope he's feeling better soon.

Here are the deets on the card: Cardstocks used are PTI's New Leaf, Scarlet Jewel, and Dark Chocolate Bitty Dots as well as SU Naturals White. Inks used are PTI New Leaf, Dark Chocolate, and Fresh Snow. Buttons are New Leaf Vintage Buttons and ribbon is Satin Scarlet Jewel. If you like buttons, I recommend that you get some from PTI--there are so many different gorgeous buttons in each bag that they send you. The main image is popped up on dimensionals but other than that, it should all be self explanatory.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

Blue Monster

I really, really love these little monsters from October Afternoon! They are so much fun to color and with 2 boys, they're going to get a lot of use in this household.

This is another pretty simple and straightforward card but you know that's my style. Here are the deets: Cardstocks used are SU Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango (both retired) and Neenah Solar White. Patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Marrakech collection. Inks used were Memento Tuxedo Black and PTI Fresh Snow.

The little guy is stamped on Neenah Solar White with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored in with Copics and Spica Glitter pens. I went over his eyes and teeth with a white Souffle pen and in hindisght, I probably wouldn't have done it again since it didn't turn out exactly like I was thinking it would when I did it. He's cut out with one of the Nesties from the Labels Four set and mounted on another cut and embossed piece in Tangerine Tango. The sentiment from the same set is stamped on the bottom of the card in PTI Fresh Snow--love that white!

Since this is a kid card, I kept it fairly simple and didn't use too many embellishments since I know it probably won't be saved.

Thanks for visiting!

Boys will be boys

Yes, I do stamp! I've just been pretty busy and haven't blogged much lately but plan to rectify that right now. I've got a bunch of stuff photographed and will preschedule some blog posts for your viewing pleasure :-) That is if all of my readers haven't disappeared since it's been forever since I've shared with all of you.

I made this card for my 10 yo. He really liked how it turned out. The image and sentiment are from Elzybells Boys will be boys stamp set and are both stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Neenah Solar White. The little guy is colored in with Copics and Spica Glitter pens--I added the DGK to his shirt since it's my son's favorite skateboard company. He's cut out and embossed with a circle Nestability and mounted on SU Basic Gray which is cut out with my Nesties. Other cardstocks used are SU Tangerine Tango (retired) and Summer Sun. Patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Ambrosia collection. I think everything else is pretty self explanatory but leave me a message if you've got some questions.

Easy Peasy and just my style! Thanks for visiting!

Cleaning Up

Wow, I know it's been awhile since I've blogged. I've been stamping when I can but the blogging has fallen by the wayside a little. I started to lose the joy of doing it when for a little bit. It's hard when you have a job that is more public and people start to scrutinize your personal life and make some judgements, right or wrong.

Anyway, I'm cleaning out the stamp room and found some stuff that is new and unused that needs to go to a new home. Let me know if you're interested. Prices are fairly flexible.

SU 2009 Retired 12X12 In Color Textured Cardstock (NIP) $11.95
SU Retired DSP Good Morning Sunshine (NIP) $9.95
SU Retired DSP Urban Garden (NIP) $9.95
SU Retired Simply Scrapping Kit Island Blossom (NIP) $19.95
SU Retired Simply Scrapping Kit In Full Bloom (NIP) $19.95
SU Retired Accordion Book Kit (neutrals-NIP) $9.95
SU Retired Saddle Stitch Book Kit (neutrals-NIP) $9.95

PTI Borders & Corners-Circle (never used, in CD case) $20

Silent Auction Donation

I made 2 different sets of 6 cards for the PTA's Silent Auction. I wasn't going to do it since it feels a little weird to me for a few reasons. Part of me doesn't feel that my cards are that amazing--you know what I mean? Don't get me wrong, I know they don't suck but are they really good enough that people would bid on them? Actually pay money for them? My friend suggested I do it and thinks that they'll definitely sell since they're made by *me*. Someone will bid on the principal's cards, right?

Both sets contain cards that are all pretty similar to each other so it made it pretty easy to crank out 6 at a time. Set #1 uses PTI's Teacher's Apple. Cardstocks used were Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, and SU Naturals White. The patterned paper is BasicGrey's Offbeat collection (see, I told you I love this paper). Inks used were Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate, and Versafine Onyx Black. Ribbon is Pure Poppy Satin. These cards are pretty self explanatory but I like how this set turned out. My dd wanted to help really badly and her job was to check the apples out and decide if they looked ok or needed to be restamped :-) She was a little more of a perfectionist than I was when it came to picking out the best apples for the cards. I didn't decorate the envelopes but did add some Naturals Ivory cardstock and a strip of matching patterned paper to the inside of the card to finish it up. All 6 cards and envelopes are packaged up in one of PTI's Clearly Creative Card Boxes.

Set #2 uses PTI's Beautiful Blooms. The cardbase is PTI's Stamper's Select White and this is as close to a one layer card as I get :-) Inks used were pretty much the whole rainbox of PTI's inks: Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, Lavendar Moon, Plum Pudding, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet, Raspberry Fizz, and Sweet Blush as well as Palette Hybrid Noir. A few flowers are popped up on dimensionals and the glitter used is Doodlebug Designs Sugar Coating glitter. All ribbon is PTI as well. The popped up flowers and sentiment are stamped on SU Whisper White.

PTI Over the Rainbow Challenge

If you follow my blog at all, you know how much I love Papertrey Ink. Nichole is a genius and I've admired her work since I started stamping. Yesterday, she posted a challenge with the chance to win over $100 worth of PTI cardstock. You know that I couldn't pass up the chance to play along, especially since it's such a great challenge. We were supposed to use Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avocado, and Ocean Tides to create a project and then link up to her blog post. These colors are gorgeous together and I'm pretty happy with what I made.

I used Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avocado, and Pure Poppy cardstocks as well as SU's Naturals Ivory. The patterned paper is from the BasicGrey Offbeat collection which is my current favorite. I popped into my LSS earlier today and they didn't have anymore 6X6 pads of this paper and I don't know what I'll do when I completely run out (they did have Porcelain and Marrakech which I can't wait to play with). The flowers and little owl from Wise Owl were stamped onto Naturals Ivory in Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Ocean Tides, and Memento Tuxedo Black. I colored the owl in with Copics and then added some white Doodlebug Crushed Velvet to his belly. The sentiment, which is also from the same set,is inked up with Memento Tuxedo Black and Versamagic Red Magic-I only have the full size Pure Poppy pad which made it difficult to selectively ink the word I wanted and I'm too lazy to Stampamajig it :-)-and stamped onto SU Vellum cardstock. I used a square punch on the end of the strip to make the little tail and then adhered this over the flower stems. I finished up with some Making Memories buttons that are tied off with SU Linen Thread.

Tah Dah! All done! I love when something I have in my head works out.

Thanks for visiting and be sure to come back soon.

Bright Elzybells

We're going to a 1st birthday party for our friend's daughter this weekend and I made this card for her. All I can say is "Wow, it's pretty bright!" I knew I wanted to play around with circles, use an Elzybelle, and my BasicGrey Euphoria paper and this is what I came up with.

I used Pixie Pink, Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green, and Neenah Solar White cardstocks as well as BasicGrey Euphoria paper on this card. All the circles are cut out with Nestabilities. I used Memento Tuxedo Black and Angel Pink inks. I inked up my Elzybells Stardust and Moonbeams set and colored the girl in with Copics and Spica Glitter pens. The Primas are from my stash and have a dot of Stickles in the center. It's hard to see but there is also Stickles on the heart and swirl underneath the sentiment.

This card was really fun to make and my dd really wants it for herself :-) I may have to make one for her. Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

FS103

I had a little time to play along in today's FS Challenge at SCS.  I was inspired by this card of Vicky's.  I changed the Cuttlebug folder, stamp, ribbon, and used dewdrops.  I also added some liquid pearls and stickles.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy--I have another card to add to my stash.

Here are the deets:  Card base is shimmery white and other cardstocks used were Chocolate Chip and Pink Pirouette. I used the Floral Fantasy embossing folder on the lower half of the Pink Pirouette piece and stamped the branch from Stem Silhouettes on the top in Chocolate Chip.  I sponged the edges and went over the embossed area with Tattered Rose Distress Ink.  I tied some Chocolate Taffeta around this and matted it on a piece of Chocolate Chip that is edged in Versamagic Pixie Dust.  After I attached this piece to the cardbase, I added some White Opal Liquid Pearls and Cotton Candy Stickles to the branches.  Finally, I added 3 dew drops underneath the ribbon.

Thanks for visiting!

Urban Floral Frenzy

How is everyone doing today? This card did not end up anywhere near what I was thinking of when I started to stamp. I went in a completely different direction than my original thoughts but like the end result so much better than what I originally planned to do. It's nice when I have some time to just play around and stamp for fun.

Cardstocks used are PTI's Pure Poppy and Aqua Mist, SU Whisper White and Basic Black, and BasicGrey Urban Prairie patterned paper. The flowers from PTI's Floral Frenzy are stamped onto the Whisper White with Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, and Ripe Avocado Pallette Hybrid ink--these inks work so great with the PTI clear stamps!!!!! The sentiment from the same set is stamped with Pallette Hybrid Noir. All the squares are cute out with my Square and Scalloped Square Nestabilites and are mounted to the card front with dimensionals. The ribbon is PTI's Pure Poppy Satin ribbon. I struggled with it a bit since I was trying to tie a bow and just gave up and tied a knot. I'm seriously bow impaired right now but my plan is to keep trying and eventually I'll get it.

The inside is decorated to match as well but I didn't get a pic of it. Another heavy, multi-layer card!

Thanks for visiting!

2 Challenges, 1 Card

I love 3 day weekends! It feels like Sunday to me. This is a very exciting week with the Martin Luther King Jr Holiday today and the Inauguration tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers that our assembly will go well in the afternoon and the kids will be able to see the inauguration--it would be much better to be able to get a live feed at school but no local TV access and the stern warning to not stream it since if we all did Districtwide, it would crash the server, makes it hard to do.

Anyway, on to the card I made :-) When I saw that Lori Craig was this

week's Featured Stamper at SCS, I was determined to play along. Lori's work is awesome!!! I picked this card to CASE. Since I still had my BasicGrey Granola pad out, I also decided to do last Tuesday's Color Challenge as well. So, I kept the same layout that Lori did but swapped out the colors and stamps used. Instead of a little rope of hemp in the corner of the focal piece, I popped mine up on top of a few flowers. Cardstock used was Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, and Kraft. The image from Pocket Silhouettes is stamped in NQN on the Kraft and cut and embossed with my Labels Two Nestability. Buttons and flowers are from Making Memories Poolside Buttons and Blossoms box and the ribbon is Kraft Taffeta. I sprayed the whole card and the Kraft piece with Copper Glimmer Mist and dried it with a heat gun. Finally, I covered the Kraft piece with Ranger's Crackle Accents (Lori used the Cracked Glass technique on hers). This piece is attached to the card front with dimensionals. I also decorated the inside of the card as well. I love doing this to use up my little snippets of DP but dang, my cards are getting heavy since they have so many layers now :-)

Thanks for visiting!

Wise Granola Owls

Hi there!  Did you think I was going to disappear again?  Hah--have no fear, I'll still be here.  There's no way I'm stamping and posting everyday but since I've started getting my stamps inky again, I have no plans to go on hiatus again in the near future.

I made this card this morning and I really like how it turned out!!!!!!  This card is for one of my kidlet's friends--we had a birthday party to go to today and you know my mojo works best under pressure so I had to do it before we walked out the door.  Even though it doesn't look like a typical kid birthday card, the recipient isn't your typical kid so I think it will really be appreciated.

So, here are the details.  Cardstocks used were PTI Ocean Tides, SU Naturals Ivory,  and SU Basic Gray.  The patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Granola collection--another one that I love!  Who am I kidding, I love all the BasicGrey papers, especially in the 6X6 pads! Stamps are from Wise Owl by Papertrey Ink.

I stamped the owl onto Naturals Ivory with Memento Tuxedo Black, colored him in with Copics, covered his belly with some Doodlebug Designs Crushed Velvet flock, and then cut him out.  I'm ashamed to admit that I bought this set right when it released and this is the first time that I inked it up.  My 9 yo was with me when I made this card and I let him pick out the eyes and belly for the owl :-)  The owl is mounted on dimensionals to some ovals that are cut and embossed with my Petite Oval and Petite Scalloped Oval Nestabilities.    The sentiment is from the same set--I just went over the word hoot with a Copic marker for a little pop and then pierced a few holes under the word birthday.  This is popped up on dimensionals.  Buttons are from my Making Memories Poolside Blossom and Button Box.  I found out about this cool little jar of flowers and buttons from Kristina Werner and got the Poolside and Rouge collections at my LSS--I seriously want the other colors since the jars are so stinking cute but I'm doing the best I can to exercise restraint right now.  The last little bit to the card is the piercing on the side.  I'll admit, I had to do this since I screwed up when I was scoring my cardbase--I did it in the wrong place and almost grabbed another piece of cardstock to start over but decide to just go with it and use the score line.  It's right next to the patterned paper and then the piercing line is along the edge--genius!!!!!  It's true when they say that there are no mistakes in stamping since it's just a reason to find a way to fix it (or something like that).  Finally, I had to fancy up the inside since my  9yo also wanted me to use one of the small owls so to oblige him, I stamped it inside the card with PTI's Perfect Match Ocean Tides ink.

Whew, I just realized I've been blabbing up a storm!  Thanks for visiting and come back again soon.

SFYTT

I {heart} Jen's sketches and always plan to play along when she does her Sketch For You To Try but as you all know, I've had limited stamping time lately. Well, I feel like I'm back. I got to spend a lot of time stamping over the past few days and when I saw Jen's latest sketch, I knew that I just had to try it out. I love, love, love how this card turned out. I cannot tell you how many times I stamped, colored, and circular filed this image because I couldn't get it right--the color I wanted the skirt wasn't working so I ended up paper piecing it instead.

Here are the details. The card base is Pink Pirouette and other card stock used was Rose Red, Mellow Moss, and Neenah Solar White. The patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Bittersweet collection and the edge was punched with a Martha Stewart border punch. I also used matching BasicGrey Glazed Brads on the card. I stamped Mwahbella on Neenah Solar White with Memento Tuxedo Black, colored her in with Copics, and then paper pieced her skirt. The heart on her purse, trim on her shirt, and ribbon in her hair are highlighted with a Pink Spica Glitter pen.

I grounded her with an amuse oval from the Essential Ovals set that was inked in Pink Pirouette. She's matted on Rose Red and attached to the front of the card. I punched circles out of Mellow Moss and Rose Red, attached the BasicGrey brads, and then popped them up on dimensionals. I used my Large and Small Star punch to punch out some stars, stamped the sentiment from PTI's Mixed Messages with Memento Tuxedo Black on Neenah Solar White, punched this out, and attached them all together. This is also popped up on dimensionals.

Tah-dah!!!!!! All done. I'm sending this one off to Julie at Dallas Baptist University as my entry for Jen's Massive Blog Tart giveaway. If you don't know what it is, you must check out her blog entry here. All you've got to do is make a card to donate to Dallas Baptist University's International Student Services Department and let her know and you may be the lucky winner of over $450 worth of goodies.

Thanks for visiting!