Archive for 1/1/11 - 2/1/11

Coming up for air

| Published 1.31.2011


Hey Bleeps!
It's been a few weeks of sparse creativity for me. And when I do sit down, the wheels turn slowly. But I know you've all experienced these moments as well :)
I've finally found some time to play along with a few challenges! Sadly, because of this past hectic week, I didn't get to play along with my fellow JUGSters *sniff* and I missed out on a great challenge. But I decided I would play along just the same. So the following card is for this weeks JUGS challenge, which is to make a 3D flower. Maria's posted an awesome Tim Holtz tutorial! I also used the colors from the Play Date Cafe (holy moly, I haven't played along at the Cafe in so long, it was really about time!). Finally, the sketch is from Card Patterns :)




For this attempt at the 3D flower, I messed up the middle :) But for a first try, I think it went well :) I sprayed the cardstock with purple Glimmer Mist so it has a nice shimmer in the right light. I stamped the horizontal black cardstock with a retro background and heat embossed. The vertical black cardstock is dry embossed. The sad thing is you really can't see either in the photo, darn it :). I'm not sure how to feel about this card... I love the flower but am not happy with how the rest turned out :( I hope I can get my mojo back soon....
So that's it! Thanks so much for all the sweet comments on my blog makeover!!!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

Ingredients: 
Stamps: Background basics: retro and text style, Garden of life - sentiment, Turning a new leaf (all PTI)
Ink: Tuxedo black (Memento), Versamark
Paper: white, true black (PTI)
Other: Blossom nesties, Purple Glimmer Mist, diamonds impression plate (PTI), clear embossing powder, sewing machine

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CR84FN #13

| Published 1.30.2011


Whew - what a week! It's been BUS-Y at work, which sadly meant not much no crafty time :( I did manage a few hours today though and it was NIIIICE! I also found a little bit of time change up the ol' blogo a little. What do you think? 

I really hope you'll find some crafty time to play along with the latest, absolutely fantastic color combo offered up at CR84FN!!!


What a great combination of colors with soooo many possibilities :) I took some inspiration from some sei DP from "the hoard" (my affectionate name for my patterned paper "collection"). 


I inked up the Seeds and Stems acrylic stamp set from Memory Box. I actually won this set a while back. It's fantastic! Wish I'd inked it up sooner, but isn't that always the way? I used my PTI woodgrain impression plate on a piece of brown cardstock - funny thing about woodgrain... I thought I didn't like it. In fact, I was very sure I didn't like woodgrain. So I held off on ordering until finally a few friends inspired me with their fabulous products and I took the plunge. I figured if I used it a little it would be worth it... well, let me tell you, I don't know how I lived without woodgrain!!! I love my impression plate. I still don't like the look of woodgrain in cars, but baby steps, right?

Sorry for the digression! Back to regularly scheduled programming... Please take a moment to stop by and visit the other fantastic members of the CR84FN DT to leave them some love :) You can check out their gorgeous work on the CR84FN site or the links are listed on my sidebar.

That's all folks! I certainly can appreciate how busy life can be so THANK YOU for taking precious moments from your day to swing by - I sure do appreciate it!!!

TTFN,
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Ingredients: 
Stamps: Seeds and Stems (Memory Box), Sentiment - Faux Ribbon (PTI)
Ink: Chocolate brown, Hawaiian shores (PTI), lady bug (Memento)
Paper: Pure poppy, white, dark chocolate (PTI), DP (sei)
Other: bakers twine (the twinery), Hawaiian shores button (PTI), woodgrain IP (PTI), Copic marker (BG00)

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DeNami Product Spotlight: Sweetheart Mimi

| Published 1.26.2011

Click HERE for my CR84FN post and HERE for my JUGS post :) 


Happy hump day! To help brighten your Wednesday, we've got a DeNami product spotlight....

It's Sweetheart Mimi!!! Ain't she a doll?!?!


I stamped Mimi on white cardstock and colored her with Copics. I stamped the teeny heart background on white cardstock and clear embossed them for a neat effect. I tried something a little different for me -  faux stitching. I think it turned out ok but my white gel pen skips a lot. It made it a bit frustrating. Perhaps I'll try again with a new white gel pen :) Any suggestions?

Well folks, there's loads more eye candy from the wonderful DT over at the DeNami blog! If you'd like to link directly, their links are on my side bar ------->
Also swing by Ashley Cannon Newell's blog - she's our January Guest DT!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 TTFN,

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Ingredients
Stamps: Sweetheart Mimi, Love sentiments set, teeny heart background (DeNami)
Ink: Versamark, tuxedo black (Memento)
Paper: White, amethyst (DeNami)
Other: Clear embossing powder, white embossing powder, Copics, bracket border punch, white gel pen, dew drops, nesties, bakers twine

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CR84FN #12

| Published 1.23.2011

Please scroll down if you're looking for my JUGS post :)

It's time to create for fun!!!! That's right, another fabulous color challenge from Mona at CR84FN!!!


This palette is so soft and pretty!
Here's my take;


I used a technique I saw on Betsy Veldman's blog HERE. It's sort of a faux dry embossing. And I love it! I've used it before and thought it was time to break it out again :) Here's a close up. Basically, it's just die cut hearts adhered to the same color base cardstock. Easy, right? 


I made a few cards using this color combo. Here's one more...


I used the sweet little bunny border and sentiment from DeNami Design. How cute are they?!?! 

Please take a moment to stop by and visit the other CR84FN gals - leave 'em a bit o' love too :) 

Mona Pendleton - Cupcake's Creations
Deborah Frings - Deborah's Gems 
Sue Lelli - Card Therapy
Meredith MacRitchie - A Delightful Wast of Time
Stephanie Kraft - HandKrafted by Stephanie
Lisa Somerville - Splendiferous Creations
Suzanne Czosek - Suzz's Stamping Spot
Heather Jensen - Simply Handmade By Heather

Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,
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Ingredients:
Always card
Stamps: Heart prints (PTI)
Ink: Lilac (Colorbox), Versamark
Paper: Kraft, sweet blush, and vintage cream (all PTI)
Other: Heart print dies (PTI), banner basics dies (PTI), clear embossing powder, sewing machine, bakers twine


Happy Easter card
Stamps: Bunny border (DeNami), Sentiment (DeNami), egg hunt (PTI), Tin types (PTI)
Ink: Versamark, lilac
Paper: Sweet blush, Kraft (PTI), white (PTI), vellum
Other: Lavender moon ribbon, white embossing powder, picnic impression plate (PTI), sweet blush buttons (PTI)

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Valentine Container: JUGS #68

| Published 1.22.2011


Happy Saturday all!!


Lisa's hosting this week's Just Us Girls 3D/Template Challenge and she's got a good one! The challenge this week is to create a Valentine's container - with Valentine's Day around the bend, think of a sweet person you'd like to surprise with a home-made gift!

So, onto my project.  I found this adorable, free heart cone template HERE and I jazzed it up with DP from my hoard. I'm a patterned paper hoarder. The first step is admitting it... I love patterned paper yet I never seem to know how to use it effectively unless it's one pattern at a time :) So I collect it.
But I did have this adorable paper from American Crafts Romance collection (probably from last year sometime... told you... I hoard :)).


I made a card with a dark chocolate base and the pretty DP on top - pretty simple. Adorned it with a felt heart, some buttons and twine. Added a sentiment to belie the contents of the cone.... yummy, Hershey's kisses :) Time for some close-ups....


Here's the cute little cone (again, I found the free, printable template HERE ). You can see roughly how big it is based on a comparison with the 4.25x5.5 card in the picture above - it holds a decent amount of kisses (sorry, I could have counted but was in a rush :(...). I added a few felt hearts, buttons and twine again. I thought about adding more embellishments but I loved that paper so much that I didn't want to cover it up :) Plus, I'll likely give it to my friend, who's not really a frilly, girly girl :)


If you already haven't, see the JUGS site for all the challenge deets. Don't forget to swing by the blogs of the other JUGS DT gals and show them a little love :)


Thanks so much for playing along with Just Us Girls - we love seeing your creations and always appreciate your support! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

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Ingredients:
Stamps: Heart print basics (PTI)
Ink: Dark chocolate (PTI)
Paper: Dark chocolate (PTI), Patterned paper (American Crafts)
Other: bakers twine (The twinery), heart print dies (PTI), raspberry fizz felt (PTI), Cream and pure poppy buttons (PTI), corner rounder

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DeNami Sketch Challenge #6

| Published 1.17.2011

For my CR84FN post, please click HERE

For my JUGS post, please click HERE


Time for a DeNami Sketch Challenge! This lovely sketch is provided by the uber talented Laurie!




For my take on the sketch, I used several of my fav DeNami products :) After die cutting a piece of sky blue cardstock using a nestabilities labels 4, I stamped Love Script in versamark on the die cut piece then embossed with white embossing powder. To give the sentiment a little extra depth, I used a Copic marker, B95, to create shadows. On a small strip of navy cardstock, I stamped Heart Border in versamark, embossed with white embossing powder yet again, then placed it beneath the sentiment. Tiny Heart Background was stamped on the tall strip of navy cardstock with versamark then embossed with clear embossing powder. The white cardstock was dry embossed with the script cuttlebug embossing folder. To finish 'er off, I sponged the edges of the die cut and white cardstock with navy ink, added a few blue buttons and some bakers twine. Oh yeah, I rounded a couple of edges too :) 

Make sure to stop by the DeNami blog to check out the sketch challenge details as well as more fabulous DT creations! The DeNami DT links are also on my sidebar :) ----------->

Hope you can play along! Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

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Ingredients
Stamps: Love script, tiny heart background, heart border (DeNami)
Ink: Enchanted evening (PTI), Versamark
Paper: Navy, sky blue, white (DeNami)
Other: Clear embossing powder, white embossing powder, Copics, spring rain buttons (PTI), Nesties, script EF (Cuttlebug), bakers twine

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CR84FN #11

| Published 1.16.2011

For my JUGS post, please scroll down or click HERE :)

Time for another splendiferous CR84FN color challenge! How about these fabulous colors chosen by Mona this week?!?!


I just love the medallions made by Maile Belles HERE!!! So much so, I had to make more....
I posted a little tutorial HERE when I made one previously (the previous medallion was smaller than this one; however, the same principle and stamp are used for the creation of this doily).


I used PTI's largest heart print die to cut a heart from red cardstock. I stamped text in Versamark and heat embossed with clear powder. I used the smallest die on the center of the heart, coated the bitty resulting heart I with Versamrk then heat embossed with clear powder to give it a shiny look... in retrospect, I could have just easily used Glossy Accents :)


But it still is kind of a neat effect :) The small heart is popped up on a small dimensional for more "oomph". So that's it! This card would be super fast to mass produce!

Please take a moment to stop by and visit the other talented CR84FN gals - leave 'em a bit of love too :)

Mona Pendleton - Cupcake's Creations
Deborah Frings - Deborah's Gems 
Sue Lelli - Card Therapy
Meredith MacRitchie - A Delightful Wast of Time
Stephanie Kraft - HandKrafted by Stephanie
Lisa Somerville - Splendiferous Creations
Suzanne Czosek - Suzz's Stamping Spot
Heather Jensen - Simply Handmade By Heather

Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,
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Ingredients
Stamps: Mat Stack 2 stamps (PTI), Heart prints - sentiment (PTI), background basics: text style (PTI)
Ink: dark chocolate (PTI), versamark
Paper: Kraft, pure poppy (PTI)
Other: clear embossing powder, red rhinestones, heart print dies (PTI)

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Color Challenge: JUGS #67

| Published 1.15.2011

Howdy friends!!! Take a gander at these GAW-JUS colors!!!



Time for a Just Us Girls color challenge!!! These lovely colors were provided by our sweet January guest designer, Carla :) Thanks for the LOVERLY color palette, Carla!!

Here's my attempt at the colors.


These are sweet peas (from PTI's Year of Flowers: Sweet Peas). I used my trusty Copics (R01, R02, R05; YG91, YG93, YG97) to give the sweet peas some color.


I cut out two of the blossoms and added some dimension with double sided foam tape. Isn't that bitty dot paper just awesome?!?! *happy sigh*

If you already haven't, see the JUGS site for all the challenge deets. Don't forget to swing by the blogs of the other JUGS DT gals and show them a little love :)


Thanks so much for playing along with Just Us Girls - we love seeing your creations and always appreciate your support! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

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Ingredients:
Stamps: Year of flowers: sweet peas (PTI)
Ink: Tuxedo black (Memento)
Paper: Aqua mist, spring moss, white, bitty dot melon berry paper (all PTI)
Other: nesties,  spring moss grosgrain ribbon (PTI) , Copics, scissors, threading water border punch (Fiskars)

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DeNami Product Spotlight: Elephant

| Published 1.12.2011

If you are looking for my CR84FN post, please click HERE :)



In the spotlight today, we have the sweet little...

ELEPHANT!!!!
How sweet is this little guy?!?!


I paper pieced my elephants as I chose to make them look like they were forming the cutest train ever! In addition to the G152 Elephant stamp, I used Baby Script for the sentiment and the Petit fours baby stamp set for the stamps above and below the elephants. It's finished off with navy grosgrain ribbon from DeNami. 

"Stomp" on over to the DeNami blog today and check out what the rest of the fabulous DeNami DT has in store! You'll find "tons" of inspiration :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!
 TTFN,
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Ingredients
Stamps: G152 Elephant (DeNami), Petit Four (DeNami), Baby stamp (DeNami)
Ink: Enchanted evening (PTI)
Paper: Navy (DeNami), white (DeNami), aqua mist (PTI)
Other: Aqua mist button (PTI), white gel pen, aqua mist bitty dot DP (PTI), argyle embossing folder (Cuttlebug), Fillable frames #9 die and stamp (PTI), enchanted evening grosgrain ribbon (PTI)

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