Happy Day!

Here is another of the Unity Stamp Co. images that Jessica sent me. Unity offers a Kit of the Month club, and this is a stamp from their August kit. I just think it is too cute! I started by coloring the birds, and decided to go with a different color for each one. From there, I decided the birds kind of matched that bubble paper (a gift from Lorie, my summer sister), and the rest kind of fell into place. It's very eclectic, but I think it's cute.

The only thing I'm not quite sure of is the sentiment. Because be honest... does it not look like I am implying that the bottom bird should poo on someone's happy day? LOL! I really need to think about sentiment placement a little more next time. ;o)

Last but not least, if you are a member of the Bellaholics Anonymous group on yahoo, be sure to vote in the current poll. I have my B is for Bella card on there, in contention for homepage honors in September. The poll closes tomorrow.

Details:
Stamps: August Kit of the Month (Unity Stamp Co.), Flower (Clear Dollar Stamps)
Ink: Memento Black, Bashful Blue
Paper: Gable Green, Bashful Blue, Dotted DP (DCWV), Basic Black
Other: Black and White Gingham Ribbon (SU!), White Gel Pen, Copic Markers

Charlie the Horse

Have you met Charlie? Isn't he just the cutest little horse!? He's from Clear Dollar Stamps. There are two "Charlie" sets there, and I think each of them only cost me $3.99, which is a total steal! I combined both sets for the front of this card, and used the matching wheel (it comes as a long flat stamp, but can be placed on one of their clear wheels if you wish - I just use a long acrylic block for it instead) on the inside. You can see a little bit of it there at the bottom.

I raised his nose and tail up on Stampin' Dimensionals, and stamped the sentiment with SU markers so I could get it vertical instead of horizontal like it is originally. I also did a little wavy cutting and notching (by hand) on the Ruby Red layer under Charlie. I started doing that to cards years ago and I really think it adds a nice touch to the whole barnyard feel of this card.

Details:

Stamps: Charlie Horse, Charlie Fenced In, and Hoofin' It (all Clear Dollar Stamps)
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Ruby Red

Other: Copic markers (on Charlie), Ruby Red SU marker (on bird), Close to Cocoa SU Marker (on sentiment), Stampin' Dimensionals

Now here's a fun little blogger trick I learned yesterday. Did you know that if you go to http://blogsearch.google.com/ and type "Link:" and then the name of your blog (ex: link:www.scrampinmama.blogspot.com) and then hit search, it will show you all of the blogs that have linked to yours within the text of their daily posts (doesn't include blogrolls). I did it, and learned (a month later!) that I was one of the "Friday Favorites" in Jennifer's top ten list over at Glitter in my Hair at the end of May for my Sugar & Snips card! Who knew?! Not me!

Enjoy the day!

P.S. How do you like the new signature I made? :)

It's a Cupcake Thing

Cupcakeabella is one of the images I received in the image swap I participated in a few weeks ago. Although I do love me some Bella's, she is not one that I would normally buy for myself (that's the whole point of an image swap though, eh? To get things you don't already have?). I wasn't entirely sure what to do with her, but then I came across Bella Sketch Challenge #33 on SCS, and decided to give it a whirl.

I love how the ribbon matches her dress, and I love how her leg sticks out beyond the main rectangle image. I even love the way I cut up the sentiment. What I don't love is the black border around that same main image. It started out as a dotted border, made with my black Sakura gelly roll pen. In hindsight (gotta love hindsight), I should have left well enough alone, but did I? Of course not. After the dots were dry, I decided maybe I'd like a solid line better. Wrong! The dots kind of stick up because the ink from the gelly pen is so thick, so it looked more like a stitched border than anything. I hated it. So then I decided to sponge black over the edges to hide the gelly stuff all together. Bad idea. You can still see it. Of course if I had this actual stamp I would have just started all over again, but being that it was the only image I had of her (originally got two, but the first one smeared when I tried to color it with my copics... grumble, grumble) I was determined to salvage her somehow. Ultimately I think a squiggly doodled edge would have been the best option, but it's too late now! Ugh!

Details:
Stamps: Cupcakeabella and Sentiment, Small Flower stamp by Clear Dollar Stamps
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue

Other: Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pen, Dazzling Diamonds (on frosting), Sakura Gelly Roll Pens - black (edges), sparkle (base of cupcake), Non-SU Ribbon, Copic marker (shadow of cupcake)

Puppy Party Favors

As you may have read, we're having a puppy party for Henry on Sunday. It's just a small gathering with us, his grandma, great-grandma, and godparents, but I still want to make it special. I posted the party invitation the other day, and here are the party favors. I made one for Henry and one for the other little boy who will be there. Inside the wrap is a little spill-proof (supposedly!) bottle for bubbles and a bottle of bubbles to fill it with. I found them at Target for $1.99 each and thought they'd be great for a little treat for Henry and Caden. I didn't want to put a ton of time into these because they are for two year olds, but I still think they turned out cute!

The DP is Basic Grey, and the dog is "Cocoa" from Clear Dollar Stamps. Take a minute to look through their site. They have some super cute things at reasonable prices and it's all cling vinyl (which I love, as I've mentioned before). I bought Cocoa, and all of the Charlie the Horse line. I couldn't help myself!

Details:
Stamps: Cocoa (Clear Dollar Stamps)
Paper: Whisper White, Ruby Red, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Other: Non-SU stitched ribbon, weathered brad, copic markers, sponging (edges of white paper)