Long Time Friend.....

Hi there!!   I have been trying to upload this pic ALL DAY!  This is my first frustrating day with Blogger since I switched blog servers and I'm glad it's hopefully over!  LOL!

I made another card using the awesome Mojo 171.  I love this sketch!  I pulled out one of my favorite sets from Taylored Expressions called Garden Party Blooms and paired it with a sentiment from the new Friendship Blooms.  I stamped the flowers in Memento Tuxedo Black onto two different patterns from the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 papers.  They were popped up for dimension with some foam tape.  A black adhesive gem finishes them off.  Some machine stitching and a sentiment flag finish the card.

That's all from me today!  It will be pretty quiet around my blog until early next week!  I will be stamping the weekend away preparing for the next Taylored Expressions release!  You don't want to miss all of the new stamps coming out!!  Gorgeous!!

Have a great day!

Stamps:  Garden Party Blooms, Friendship Blooms (TE)

Paper:  True Black, Vintage Cream, Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 DP

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Tea Dye Distress Ink (for sponging)

Accessories:  Gingham Ribbon, Adhesive Gems (Kaiser), Sewing Machine, Foam Tape

I'm So Excited........

Hi there everyone!  I've been keeping a little secret for awhile now and it's time to SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!  I am a new member of the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club!   I will be bringing you an MFT Wednesday Stamp Club sample every Wednesday starting January 5th!  I am thrilled to have been asked and can't wait to share my love of MFT with you!  For ALL of the details just head on over to Kim's blog!

It's not my official first week, but my card fits with today's new MFT Wednesday Stamp Club challenge, "It's Party Time", celebrating the New Year in style with your best party card! 

I pulled out my new Cheers a la mode set and combined her with Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 papers and the Die-namics Rolled Flower Die (currently out of stock).  This was my first time using the rolled flower die and it was so easy!  I LOVE the way the flowers look clustered together!  Her dress is paper pieced and it's hard to tell from the picture, but I added some glossy accents to the champagne glass and her sassy pumps!  They're really shiny in person!  The sketch is this week's Mojo Monday 171.   I really love how this card turned out!  I don't use black that often, but have been loving it lately!

Well, that's all from me!  Thank you for letting me share my news!

Stamps:  Cheers a la mode (My Favorite Things)

Paper:  True Black, Vintage Cream (PTI), Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 DP

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics

Accessories:  Die-namics Rolled Flower Die (MFT),  Double Ended Banner die (PTI), Glossy Accents, Adhesive Gems (KaiserCraft), Dew Drops, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape



Happy Birthday, Jodi!!!

Hi there!  A few of Jodi Collins' friends have gotten together to throw her a little birthday blog hop!  If you arrived here from Karen's blog then you're in the right spot!  If you've just happened along, then head on over to Karen's blog to get started!!

I am so lucky to have stayed with Jodi, and a few of my other good friends, at CHA last winter and she is one of my most favorite people!  She is a HOOT to be around and is, IMO an all around amazing person!! 

She leaves THE BEST comments and is always so encouraging!!   I still can't believe how she cranks out beautiful card after beautiful card while being a full time working mother of two DARLING girls!! 

I HAD to use this new a la mode stamp from MFT called Time To Celebrate, in celebration of Jodi's birthday!!   I won't go into great detail, but you can find a full list of everything I used on this card at the bottom of this post!

Jodi, I hope your day is just as special as the person you are!!  I'll even let you call Edward YOUR boyfriend today!!  Love you, girl!!  MWAH!!!

Your next stop on the birthday hop is Ann's blog!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Time to Celebrate a la mode (MFT)

Paper:  Kraft, White (PTI), WeRMemory Keepers Be My Valentine DP

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories:  Long Rectangle Nestabilities, Simply Chartreuse Ribbon (PTI), Buttons, Divine Twine (TCP), Glitter, Spica Glitter Pen, Corner Chomper, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape



Season's Greetings!

Hi there!  It's Christmas Eve and I just wanted to wish all of my loyal blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My wonderful Mom took my kids overnight so they could help her with Christmas Eve set up so that means I have some unexpected "finish up by myself" time!  Thanks, Mom!  I'll be wrapping some final gifts and packing up some of the baked goodies I've mad over the last couple days.

I want to thank all of you for continuing to come back day after day and supporting me!  It means the world to me!

Merry Christmas!

Stamps:  Winter Wonderland (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:  Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream, Basic Grey Jovial DP

Ink:  Dark Chocolate, Tea Dye Distress Ink (Ranger)

Accessories:  Tim Holtz Paper Rosette Die, Winter Wonderland Dies (TE),  Ribbon Tag Dies (Spellbinders), Maya Road Flourish Chipboard, Wrinkle ribbon, Large Scallop Die (TE), Snowflake Brad, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape

So Thankful {MTSC105}

Hi there!  It's Tuesday and that means it's time for another one of Mercy's sketches!  This will also be my last week as part of Mercy's sketch team.  Mercy recently announced that she will not be continuing her sketches in 2011 and I will not be able to participate next week because Hubby took a week off and we're just gonna hang together as a family!  I will have a couple posts, but for the most part my blog will be pretty quiet until the new year!  I also have some exciting announcements coming soon!!  Anywho.....

My card is COMPLETELY inspired by this FANTASTIC card by Julee Tilman.  I took one look at Julee's card and couldn't get it out of my mind!  I loved the colors and those gorgeous flowers!  Mine is not nearly as beautiful as Julee's, but I do love how it turned out!  All stamps used are from Verve.

I stamped the Wild Flower Plain Jane in Pure Poppy four times, cut out three flowers and just a portion of the fourth flower and popped it up on the center flower for dimension.  Each flower center is finished with Star Dust Stickles.  The text layer was stamped with a stamp from the new Text Objects in Pure Poppy.  It was cut out with Rectangle Nestabilities.  The background layer was embossed with the Scallops and Circles Impression Plate from Taylored Expressions.  The sentiment is from Amazing Wishes.  Some adhesive gems and gingham ribbon finish the card!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the girls to see what they've cooked up with this week's sketch!

Cindy Haffner

Jessica Diedrich

Julie Lacey 

Stephanie Kraft  (December's Guest Muse)

and Mercy Kerin

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Wild Flower Plain Jane, Amazing Wishes, Text Objects (Verve Stamps)

Paper:  True Black, White (PTI), Cool Caribbean

Ink:  Pure Poppy (PTI), Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Rectangle Nestabilities, Gingham Ribbon (PTI), Circle Punches, Adhesive Gems, Scallops and Circles Impression Plate (TE), Star Dust Stickles, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape

Holiday Joy {VLVDec2010}

Hi there!  Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  After some MUCH NEEDED craft area clean up yesterday, I decided to play in this week's Viva la Verve challenge over in the Verve forum on Splitcoaststampers.  Amy Sheffer brought us this week's FUN sketch!  If you'd like to play along, we'd love to have you!  You can read about all the details here.

I broke out a Verve set from LAST YEAR's Christmas release, Christmas in the Air.  I LOVED this set last year when it came out and I love it just as much now!  When I was cleaning up my craft area I found a 6x6 pad of Basic Grey Wassail paper and knew I would use it for this card.  I'm not a big Basic Grey fan, but I love a few of their paper packs and this happens to be one of them!

The tree was paper pieced and finished with some adhesive gems.  I went rebel again and tilted the main panel.  Some die cut snowflakes (Nestabilities) with a sentiment from Holiday Phrases and some wrinkle ribbon finish it off!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Christmas in the Air, Holiday Phrases (Verve)
Paper: Kraft, Vintage Cream, Basic Grey Wassail DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Dark Chocolate
Accessories: Curved Rectangle, Oval and Snowflake Nestabilities, Adhesive Gems, Wrinkle Ribbon, Button, Twine, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape

Friendship Blooms Tags....

Hi there!!!  Long time, no blog, huh?  LOL!  I've been busy busy the last few days finishing my Christmas shopping, cleaning and just taking a small break from stamping!!  I had some crafty time last night and what did I make?  MORE TAGS!  I'm addicted!  They are just too fun to make....

I decided against making anything involving Christmas and decided it would be fun to make some friend type tags.  I used the new set from Taylored Expressions, Friendship Blooms along with the Friendship Blooms dies, and paired them with some Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 patterned papers. 

I die cut the tags with a Papertrey Tag Sale die using Kraft cardstock.  I then embossed the tags with the Scallops and Circles Impression Plate.  I cut strips of the patterned paper and layered them on a piece of Pure Poppy cardstock that was cut with the Small Scallop Border Die.  They were sewn onto the card with my sewing machine.

I used three sentiments from Friendship Blooms:

1)  I'm lucky to have a friend like you

2)  Friends are flowers in the garden of life

3)  It takes a long time to grow an old friend

Then finished them off with a black twine tied button and some black gingham ribbon!

That's all I have today!  We are experiencing some stormy rainy weather so I'm staying in and hoping to get some more crafty things done!  Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Friendship Blooms (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:  Kraft, Vintage Cream, Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 DP

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pure Poppy

Accessories:  Friendship Blooms Dies (TE), Small Scallop Border Die (TE), Scallops and Circles Impression Plate (TE), Tag Sale 2 Die (PTI), Button, Twine, Gingham Ribbon, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape



Birthday Wishes {MTSC104}

Hi everyone!  It's Tuesday and it's time for another one of Mercy's sketches!!   Mercy brings us another fab sketch this week!  I hope you'll play along!

I used the one of the newest releases from Verve called Amazing Wishes.  I LOVE these flowers!  They are so easy to paper piece!  I paired the stamps with some scraps of October Afternoon patterned papers from my stash.  I think they are a mix of Seaside, Farm Fresh and Modern Homemaker.  Each button was finished with a button and some twine and I stitched some twine "x's" where the round elements should be on the sketch.  Not sure I LOVE this part, but I was stumped what to put there!  LOL!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Muse's to see what they did with this week's sketch:

Cindy Haffner

Crystal Birr

Jessica Diedrich

Julie Lacey 

Shannan Teubner

Stephanie Kraft  (December's Guest Muse)

and Mercy Kerin

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Amazing Wishes (Verve)

Paper:  Kraft, Vintage Cream, October Afternoon DP

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Curved Rectangle Nestabilities, Buttons, Twine, Scallop Edge Punch (SU!), Twill Ribbon, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape

New items in my Etsy Store!

Hi there!!  I just wanted to pop in here today to let you know that I listed some more stuff you've seen here on my blog in my Etsy store!  I hope you'll take a look see if you're interested!  Thanks!

My blog will be pretty quiet until early next week as I will be super busy getting our Christmas tree up and our house decorated this weekend (we've yet to do anything!).  I'll also be stamping, but nothing you can see until the new Dirty Dozen Gallery is revealed on the 15th (next Tuesday).  This month's theme is SUPER fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas......{Mojo 168 inspired}

Hi there!!  I needed a card for my youngest's choir teacher so I pulled out the darling Penguin Pals and Winter Wonderland stamps from Taylored Expressions and got to work.  The sketch started out as Mojo 168, but I changed it up a bit.....so I call this Mojo 168 INSPIRED! 

The penguin was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and was colored with Copics.  It was cut out with Square Nestabilities and finished with some machine stitching and some Sparkly Fluff on the Santa Hat.  The sentiment was stamped in Riding Hood Red, was cut out with a Double Ended Tag die and attached to the card with some Farmer's Market Twine.  The snowflakes were stamped in Riding Hood Red and were cut out with the Winter Wonderland Snowflake dies.  The dp is October Afternoon Good Cheer that I picked up at CHA last winter.  Some rounded corners with my Corner Chomper and machine stitching finish it off.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Stamps:  Penguin Pals, Winter Wonderland (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:  Kraft, Vintage Cream, October Afternoon Good Cheer DP

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Riding Hood Red, Copic Markers

Accessories:  Winter Wonderland Snowflake Dies (TE), Square Nestabilities, Double Ended Tag Die (Spellbinders), Adhesive Gems, Twine, Corner Chomper, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape

How've You Bean? {MTSC103}

Hi there!  It's Tuesday and it's time for another one of Mercy's sketches!  If you love layers like me, then you're going to love this week's sketch!

I used another one of my new The Cat's Pajamas stamps that I recently received.  This cutie is called You Suit Me.  I stamped her in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored her with Copics.  I also paper pieced her jacket with some fun Alphabet Soup papers by My Mind's Eye.  The fun Kraft scallops at the bottom are from the Icing Die, also from The Cat's Pajamas!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the girls to see what they've cooked up with this week's sketch!  And give a giant welcome to our new Guest Muse for the month of December:  Stephanie Kraft!!  Welcome, Steph!!!

Cindy Haffner

Crystal Birr

Jessica Diedrich

Julie Lacey 

Shannan Teubner

Stephanie Kraft 

and Mercy Kerin

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Stamps:  You Suit Me (The Cat's Pajamas)

Paper:  Kraft, Vintage Cream, Alphabet Soup by My Mind's Eye

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics

Accessories:  Oval Nestabilities, Icing Die (The Cat's Pajamas), Aqua Mist Satin Ribbon (PTI), Sewing Machine, Foam Tape



More Verve Tags........

Hi everyone!!  Verve had a new release on Friday and released some fantastic sets.  I didn't get to play around too much before the release with the new sets because my daughter was sick, but I will be making up for that this week!  I couldn't resist making another set of tags with my favorite Sweet Scallop Die.  I used the new and FABULOUS set, Text Objects, and made some sweet Friend tags that could be used for everyday or even Valentines Day.

I stamped the Sweet Scallop Tag six times in Memento Tuxedo Black onto some Tickled Pink DP by My Mind's Eye and cut them out with the Sweet Scallop Die.  I then stamped six of the large and small hearts from Text Objects and cut them out.  "Friend" was stamped six times on Vintage Cream and cut out.  I made a small notch in the end of each and set aside.  I stitched six panels to each tag and then assembled the rest using foam tape.  Each tag was finished with a button and some Divine Twine.

Verve is having a sale!!  The new releases are 15% off through December 31st, while supplies last!! 

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Stamps:  Text Objects, Sweet Scallop Tag (Verve Stamps)

Paper:  Vintage Cream, Tickled Pink 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Sweet Scallop Die (Verve), Button, Divine Twine (TCP), Sewing Machine, Foam Tape



Taylored Expressions Release Day!

This is my second post today.  To see my Verve post please scroll down to the next post.  THANK YOU!

Hi there!  It's Taylored Expressions release day!  Everything you've seen peeked this week is now available at the Taylored Expressions store!   You'll find all things new in the Fresh Out of the Oven category!!

Today the Baker's Dozen will be showing you some more inspiration with all of the sets you've seen the last few days.  I have another sample with my new favorite set, Friendship Blooms and the Friendship Bloom and Leafy Branch dies.

I stamped the leaf branch from Friendship Blooms in Lime Pastel ink and cut it out with the Leafy Branch die.  I stamped two different flowers from the set in Rose Coral and cut them out with the coordinating flower dies.  The flower centers were stamped in Marina Mist ink and cut out with small circle dies.  The sentiment was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, was cut out with a Ribbon Tag Trio die and sponged with Rose Coral ink before removing with a die.  I attached it to the card with some twine from my stash.  Oh, and can you see them embossing on the white oval?  That was done with the new Scallops and Circle Impression die.  The papers are from the Fine and Dandy Tickled Pink line by My Mind's Eye.  A little sewing finishes the card.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Baker's Dozen:

Charmaine

Danielle

Donna

Jodi

Karen G

Karen M

Melissa

Mona

Nancy

Sankari

Tori
and Taylor

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Friendship Blooms (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:  Kraft, Vintage Cream, Fine and Dandy Tickled Pink by My Mind's Eye

Ink:  Lime Pastel & Rose Coral Fluid Chalk ink, Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Oval Nestabilities, Ribbon Tag Trio (Spellbinders), Twine, Scallops and Circles Impression Plate, Small Scallop Die, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape

Verve Sneak Peek ~ Text Objects

Hi there!!  It's day two of sneak peeks for Verve and the Diva's are peeking a FABULOUS new set called Text Objects!  I can't wait for you to see this set in it's entirety!!  You're going to love it!

I also did something that I don't normally do......I made two fairly CAS (for me) using the same layout and NO PATTERNED PAPER!  I won't keep you in suspense anymore....hehe



For this card I used the one of the scripty font stamps and stamped it repeatedly in Pure Poppy ink.  I punched an oval and then adhered it to the black mat with foam tape.  I stamped the larger heart from the set in Memento Tuxedo Black, cut it out with scissors, popped it up on foam tape and attached a Divine Twine buttony sentiment (yes, that's the techical term) with a glue dot.  The Pure Poppy layer was embossed in a diamond pattern using my Scor Pal.  A few small black brads finish the card.

 You can see here how I added the heart in the open space I had punched out. 

 

And here is the second card, done in different colors and using a the ship from the set.  I used another font stamp for the background and instead of embossing with my Scor-Pal, I embossed the Marina Mist layer with the Seeing Spots embossing folder.  I also added some Divine Twine in a different way.  After using the twine on this card I wished I had done it on the first, but I wasn't going to tear the card apart!!  LOL!  So what do you think?  Different for me, but fun to mix it up a bit!  OH, and these cards took less than an hour, which is LIGHTENING FAST for me!

I hope you'll join us tonight for the Verve Release Party at 9 pm EST in the Verve Forum on SCS!  The stamps will be available immediately following the party!

Don't forget to hop on over to the Diva's Blogs to see what they've done with Text Objects!

Julee

Laurie

Susan

Tosh

Jen d.

Charmaine

Jen T.

Shannan

Lynda

Michelle

Amy

Teresa

Sankari

Mercy

Thanks for stopping by!

Taylored Expression Sneak Peeks ~ Day 2!

Hi there!  It's day two of the Taylored Expression sneak peeks and the Baker's Dozen has something new on the menu today....Crafty Petites!  Crafty Petites are a new petite size set, measuring 3 x 5.5. Each set has seven or eight stamps made from the same deeply etched red rubber that you've come to love from TE.  They are so cute!  We have four new sets to show you today, each designed by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes Line.  I don't want to keep you waiting, so let's get started!

I made a set of four 3x3 cards.  I figure petite sets....petite cards!  LOL  I used three of the new Crafty Petite sets, Collector's Anonymous, Sew Happy and Knit Wit.  Each card base was cut from Kraft cardstock. The patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket Material Girl.  Do you see the small scallops peeking out from each card?  That was made with the Small Scallop Die that is new this release!  And the Kraft layer behind the main image was embossed with the new Scallops and Circles Impression plate!  Each image was cut out with Labels 3 Nestabilities.  Some Baker's Twine threaded through a button and some sewing finish it off!

Don't forget to see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has cooked up for today!

Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Donna Baker
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Regina Mangum
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen
Tori Wild
Nancy McKinney

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Collector's Anonymous, Sew Happy & Knit Wit Crafty Petites (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:  Kraft, Vintage Cream, Cosmo Cricket Material Girl DP

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories:  Labels 3 Nestabilities, Small Scallop Border Die (Taylored Expressions), Scallops and Circles Impression Plate (TE), Button, Farmer's Market Twine, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day One!

Hi there!!  It's the first day of sneak peeks from Taylored Expressions and I can't wait for you to see the fantastic things Taylor is coming out with this month!  Today the Baker's Dozen is peeking the new set, Friendship Blooms along with it's coorinating Friendship Bloom Dies and Leafy Branch Die!  I don't know what I did before dies were invented!  LOL!

My sample uses the Friendship Bloom Dies so let's get to the card....shall we?

I stamped the flower stem image in Lime Pastel ink and cut it out with Circle Nestabilities, layering it on a Kraft Lacey Circle Nestie.  I stamped three of the flowers from Friendship Blooms in Tangerine ink and cut them out with their coordinating dies.  Each flower was popped up on foam tape and a button from my stash finish them off.  The patterned papers are from the Cosmo Cricket Pixie-Licious 6x6 pad. And do you see those sweet purple scallops just next to the ribbon?  That's a new die from TE!!  I used the Medium Scallop Border die!! Each layer was sewn with my sewing machine and some satin ribbon finishes it off.

Don't forget to see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has cooked up for today!

Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Donna Baker
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Regina Mangum
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen
Tori Wild
Nancy McKinney

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Friendship Blooms (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:  Kraft, Vintage Cream, Cosmo Cricket Pixie-Licious DP

Ink:  Lime Green Pastel & Tangerin (ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink), Dark Chocolate

Accessories:  Circle and Lacey Circle Nestabilities, Medium Scallop Border Die (Taylored Expressions), Ribbon, Buttons, Sewing Machine, Foam Tape