layered flower card

i've broken out of my casing phase! (for now... *evil laugh*)

i just can't seem to get enough of this set. i actually got it this summer at a garage sale and this last week is the first time i've used it! it's just perfect for watercoloring, and i just got new crayons!

went to michaels today to try to pick up the january issue of "take ten", and wouldn't you know it, they were out. you see, i only buy that magazine if i have a coupon. i just can't seem to let myself spend $15 on a magazine! so i got my joanne coupon in email today, printed it off, and headed to michaels (you all do know that they take competitors coupons, right?). so i didn't get the one that i wanted, i felt like crying and stomping my feet like my DH! ROAR!!! so i got a little 8x8 magazine called "cards", even more expensive! it's a good thing i had my 50% off coupon! anywho, this little magazine had some great cards inside, just in time for valentines day, too!

recipe:
paper- SU Cchip, Wwhite, Ccelery, DP "autumn leaves, MOD, winter garden"
ink- Ccelery, Rred, jim holtz walnut stain distress ink
stamps- SU "in full bloom", and several "studio G" (michaels $1 acrylic) sets.
accessories- watercolor crayons & aqua painters, clear stickles, red & brown ribbon (?), corner rounder punch, and you can't really see it, but the whole top half of the card is accented with my sakura glitter pen.

well, that's it for me today, just this one. hope you all have a great day, i'll be back wednesday!

OH!! and something that i have been wanting to start and haven't and have decided to do so NOW: random daily trivia, just for fun. heads up though, come 5,000 hits, i'll have some incredible blog candy to give out, so keep checking back in! so for todays (the very first of many to come) trivia question:
what did the initials Alf stand for?
i'll post next time the correct answer, have fun!

-

horse wanted

so have you ever gotten stamps that have sat there BEGGING to be used, yet you refuse them the right to be in your projects? that's me with this set. i have this paper tray on my desk that has been collecting items that i knew would fit with this set great. until today, i just didn't know what i wanted to do with it all. and get this, i'm scared of horses! they are beautiful and majestic, but huge beasts at the same time!
we went to wal*mart the other day and all their holiday stuff was super cheap. i picked up some (like 6) packs of cards w/ envelopes for $0.25 each pack. i realized when i got them home that there were sentiments inside and they were all in spanish! oh well, i still got loads of envelopes! i did this card on one of the 5x7's holiday cards.
before we get to the details of this, i must admit, this card WAS NOT CASED! most of the great stuff i get inspiration from others for, this is all me, baby!

recipe:
paper- CB is holiday card, used some kind of generic cream CS on bottom half (ink distressed w/ jim holtz 'vintage photo", stamped small images in Bblue, TWteal, and Ssky inks); generic gray on top (stampled SU 'crackle" stamp and large circle image in Cchip); used notebook paper (ink distressed w/ jim holtz 'walnut stain' ink); part of a paper sack; peeled apart some cardboard and used the inside up for the corner pieces; thick chipboard for title (ink distressed w/ jim holtz 'old photo' liquid stain); SU Vvanilla for scallop pieces.
ink- SU Bblue, Ssky, TWteal, Cchip
stamps- SU 'wanted' set, and 'crackle' background
accessories- scallop punch, green gingham linen, hemp twine, pewter brad, Cchip grosgrain ribbon.

well, think i got it all. it's almost time for bed. i haven't worked out as much as i'd like so i HAVE to in the morning. i figure, chance of a lifetime to go to hawaii.... there's no way i'm going to those beautiful islands and not wearing a bathing suit! countdown is on, bring on the sweat!

have a super rest of the week!

i finally have some time, i just want to keep creating! i know that if i stop, i won't get another chance to until the end of january (i have a work meeting this coming weekend and my oldest daughters birthday is the weekend after that).

card recipe:
paper- i got one of those little $1 scrap pack from joann's, all paper is from that pack, (except the Wwhite that the image is stamped on) it's not quite big enough for the standard sized card, so i made pink sides.
ink- black stazon, Ssky
stamps- image is 'rubber stampede' and sentiment is from 'rubber soul'.
accessories- pink organza ribbon, colored w/ pastels & blender pens, sponged on Ssky ink to Wwhite panel, cuttlebug bubbles embossing folder (then sanded the embossed panel), and paper piercer.

have a super monday!

SCS sketch challenge 156

click here to see the challenge.

recipe for the first card:
paper- DCWV & SU Mmoss CS
ink- SU Mmoss & SSaffron, stazon black
stamps- TAC set (i forget!)
accessories- silk flowers, cream organza ribbon,
blender pens & SU pastels, versamark marker & silver embossing powder, Ssaffron & Oolive SU
markers, circle punch, coluzzle.





recipe for second card:
paper- TAC & black CS
ink- stazon black, Ccelery, Ppink, Llace
stamps- table is from 'denami design' and cupcake & sentiment are $1 michaels finds
accessories- ribbon, crystal effects, silver embossing powder, coluzzle.

enjoy your monday! today's my saturday! i get to stay up late and watch the new "american gladiators"!

SC155 (split coast challenge)

so here's my take on the split coast stampers challenge #155 (click here to see challenge).

CB is Wwhite, all other papers are DCWV. punched large window SU punch in the black denim paper that i also ran through the cuttlebut with the heart embossing folder then sanded.

i recently visited mels blog and she reminded me that you can doodle with your glue pen then add glitter and what not. so i scribbled on my black squares with my sakura gel pen then used black embossing powder over it for some shine. used gel pen on hearts, too, then added some SU dazzling diamonds glitter (this looks so much better IRL).

card recipe:
paper- DCWV
ink- SU Bblack, jim holtz 'fire brick' distress ink
stamps- heart is from $1 bin @ michaels, 'valentines' is from rubber soul
accessories- red ribbon ($1 michaels), heart cuttlebug embossing folder & sand paper, heart eyelets, SU dazzling diamonds glitter, black embossing powder, sakura gel pen

well, it's been longer than i would have liked.... for my last day off (do you have any idea what it's like to not get two days off in a row? makes life REALLY hard! especially when you have kids!)
DH & i went snowboarding while the girls were in school. when we got home, OUCH! we haven't been since last season, and due to holidays and the flooding here, i haven't been working out as much as i should have been. how old do i sound, "my back is KILLING me!" it's a good thing that i got a new and ultra comfy craft chair for christmas! hope you all have a great week!

i'll have to remember to change the settings back to "normal" sized photos, not these HUGE ones! i changed it to make sure you could see the super cute clipboards and forgot....

well, other than being sick, trying to enjoy the holidays, and trying to sleep, this is all i've done since last you've read & i've typed. =)





first card recipe:
paper- DCWV DP, SU Wwhite CS
ink- stazon black
stamps- SU "vases in vougue"
accessories- cuttlebug swirly flower embossing folder, wire, heart punch, craft knife

second card recipe:
paper- TAC DP, SU Wwhite CS
ink- SU TWteal, jim holtz distress ink
stamps- SU "small sayings"
accessories- sizzix flower die, button, wired ribbon, sand paper, cuttlebug circle embossing folder, decorative scissors.

have a great rest of the week! i know i will, our annual company christmas party is tomorrow! i even FINALLY got myself a 'little black dress' to wear. i've always wanted one of those for my closet!

christmas cards i sent out

so here are some of the cards that i sent out this year for Christmas. a couple of them i did last year, too (the pink reindeer & the snowflake greeting cards).

recipe-
paper: SU Wwhite, Bblue, SU DP "holiday thyme"
ink: stazon black, SU blue (bashful, ballet, bayou)
stamps: SU "it's snow time"
accessories: wired ribbon, black diamond stickles, stitched ribbon,
large and small oval scallop punches, blender pens & pastels, liquid applique.





recipe-
paper: SU Mmoss, Ccrisp, Vvanilla
ink: SU Mmoss, versamark
stamps: SU "snow flurries", and "many merry messages"
accessories: SU pewter brads & Cchip grosgrain ribbon





recipe-
paper: SU Ppink, Cchip, and Wwhite
ink: SU Cchip
stamps: SU "sleigh full of toys" & "many merry messages"
accessories: SU Ppink & Cchip grosgrain ribbon, bender pens &
pastels, dazzling diamonds




recipe-
paper: SU Wwhite, Ppink, DP "loves me"
ink: stazon black, Chip
stamps: SU "it's snow time"
accessories: sherbert diamond stickles, wide chocolate ribbon,
large and small oval scallop punches, blender pens & pastels, liquid applique.


so i am done with christmas! i have been done shopping for almost a week now. it's weird. i've never been done so early before! i feel like with my luck, our tree will burn to the ground since we have all of our gifts bough and wrapped!

anywho..... these are the cards that i am sending out this year. how bad am i though.... i have yet to send them! i have 5 days left till the day it all goes down, and 2 of those days the post office doesn't work! i'm late! AGAIN! oh well, why change now? =)

merry, merry to you!

christmas stars

wanted to do something with this nativity stamp and star (found in one
of those "4 for $1" unmounted bins at a craft fair). this is what i came
up with. i have been trying to use my SU Ccrisp as i have LOTS of
paper from last years excess.

first card recipe-
paper: SU Ccrisp, Oolive, Vvanilla
ink: SU Ccrisp, stazon black
stamps: nativity, star, saying (all unknown $1 bin unmounted finds)
accessories: SU markers, "pharoahs gold" embossing powder, jim holtz
"old paper" distress ink, stipple brush, star punch, hemp twine

card recipe-
paper: SU Ssun, Vvanilla
ink: stazon black, SU Crisp
stamps: star & saying (unknown $1 bin unmounted finds)
accessories: star punch, stipple brush, "pharoahs gold" embossing powder

MAN i love great paper!

i scoured the $1 bin at michaels last week (have i mentioned just how much i love the $1 bin at michaels? SOOOO much!) and found this super cute little bird w/ saying. just had to have it!

CB is from that great designer mat pad from K & Company ("roam" #626324). stamped image in stazon black on white CS and on a piece designer paper and pieced it. distressed the edges of the white w/ jim holtz "old paper" distress ink and layered onto another piece of designer paper. used circle punch on edges of top two layers. bottom layer is SU Vvanilla that i distressed w/ ink (same as above). used pewter brads in corners. went around CB 4 times w/ pink linen thread to increase the natural feel.

it turned out just as i though it would if i used this paper. simple, elegant & super cute!

have a great weekend!

home tweet home

my aunt came up from portland this week with some gifts for me. my other aunt used to be a demo for stampin' up! (back in '88) and gave all of her stamps away when she quit. well, my aunt still has a HUGE box of stamps and decided to give them to me.
this stamp is from '85 bu SU. i stamped it in black stazon and colored it several different ways. i used water color pencils w/ water color brushes and with my SU aquapainters; used pastels w/ blender pens; used water color brush w/ ink pads. after it was colored, i tore out the image and ink distressed w/ SU Cchip and sponge.
background is from my "i have no idea where it came from" stack and i used my script embossing folder w/ my cuttlebug, then sanded and adhered to card base.
it needed something else so i used hemp twine on the side and silk flowers w/ sanded pewter brad in the center. this is not usually what i'm into, but i really like the way it turned out.
enjoy and have a super day!