CFC80-Dashing through the snow...

CAS-ual Friday's Challenge#80 is for clean and simple Christmas tag.  I made this one up during the week and it pretty much meets the challenge!  I absolutely LOVE it!!!

This is an Eat Cake Graphic stamp I used on Kraft and colored with my prisma pencils.  I stamped him on an angle of course so he's heading down the slope.  The top of the tag was a bit boring, so I embossed a cuttlebug swirl folder and added white ink.  To make the Amuse sentiment pop a little, I added score lines above and below.

That sledding looks like fun! I really have to go this winter!


Thanks for your visit!

{Pin}spirational#11 - Thinking of You

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there!!!  I'm fortunate enough to have my dad in my life AND also a terrific Father-In-Law too!!  And.......our pups have a FABULOUS dad in Frank too!!!!  So, you'd think I would be posting a Father's Day card, right? Nope!  

I'm playing along with the {Pin}spiriational Challenge # 11 - which is seashells.

When I saw my blog friend Lynn's Card for this challenge.....I knew I had to play along.  I've had this twine netting for a looooong time.........can't even remember what it was used for but knew I'd be able to use it on a card....and finally........I did!!!

I stamped three Amuse seashells on watercolor paper and colored them in with Distress Inks.  I added some brown dots with a marker.  (I have two jars of shells in my room, so was able to get inspiration from them too!). I glued down the netting with glossy accents.  When I laid everything down....it seemed kind of boring..........so I decided to make some splatters for the background.  Splatters are my new favorite thing!!!!  I added a Hero Arts sentiment to finish it off!


Here's the inspiration photo.  You can play along until Monday night at midnight:

We're hosting a Father's Day breakfast here at the house for my parents, in-laws and aunt/uncle and cousins!  It will be a busy day - so I'll make some blog-rounds later!

Thanks for your visit!

TSG125 - I've got some dirty laundry....

to air!!  Well, not really........but that's what my card says!   I made this card following the There She Goes Sketch # 125.  I thought the layout would be perfect for my laundry set.

I really wanted to keep the laundry line on the base layer, so I ended up masking the inside and sponging around the edges to create a faux layer.  I paper pieced the undies with PTI paper and I was originally going to color in the laundry basket, but then I wondered where I'd put the sentiment - so instead, I used my smoke grey ink to stamp the basket and then stamped the sentiment over it in black. I love the result!!!

Here's the sketch - you still have until Monday the 17th to play along!!!

Thanks for your visit!

Bring out the bubbly!

Is everyone surviving the heat??  It got to 101 in CT yesterday!  Thankfully, I did spend the majority of the day indoors.  

I was the lucky recipient of some Amuse cardstock and stamp set by Meg (more on that below)....and I finally inked up one of the coral stamps for this card.  I inked it up about a week ago and then the card sat.....and sat........and I did other projects.......and it stared at me......and I had no idea where I was going  with it, until, I looked on my stamp shelf and saw my Impression Obsession fish stamp.  So I decided to stamp the fishy twice and make him swim with the coral!  You can't tell from the angle, but I cut out his fins and popped them up a bit.

I colored him with my prisma pencils, but no gamsol. I used my blender pencil instead.  I added some 'bubbles' and then....was stuck on a sentiment.  Until I found a sentiment from my There She Goes laundry set, which I thought worked pretty well.  I guess this could be a "congratulations' card!


So, here's the what I received from Meg at Corgi Creations!  Lucky gal I am!  If you have never visited Meg's blog........YOU MUST!!!!!  She is incredible!! She's also in the Top 10 for the Paper Crafts Magazine Gallery Idol and she's rockin' it out!!!!

Enjoy your Saturday. Going to walk dogs and visit Pinky at the shelter.  I have to say, I was a little sad not having her in the house....but it was also nice not to worry about her too!!!


Thanks for your visit!

Lily Pad Cards Ribbon Challenge

Lily Pad Cards is hosting a ribbon challenge on their blog.  On Friday - I decided to play along. I can't believe how quick this card came together, although it's still simple in design.

I decided to use a bunch of ribbon for this challenge.  First I looked in my die-cut stock and picked out this Sizzix sun.  I then checked out my orange/yellow ribbon and had a few ribbon choices.  So I measured out a piece of cardstock slightly bigger than the die cut and laid down strips of the red-line tape.

I exposed the tape and then laid down the ribbon over it.  I used my bone folder to really adhere the ribbon to the tape and then used the die cut to cut out the sun.  I did run it through the machine about three times, and 'most' of it cut, but some areas I had to use my scissor to release it from the cardstock.

Once the sun was done....I stamped out a bunch of Amuse clouds in PTI's fresh snow ink.  I cut a strip of yellow and embossed with the Cuttlebug swirl folder and added another ribbon on top.  I added a Hero Arts sentiment and a little bling.  Even though the sun is quite busy - it still was a little plain - so I added a PTI button with some embroidery twine.


Here's a closer picture of the sun.

This challenge runs until Thursday if you want to play!!

And just a PS to "Belinda" - you've kindly commented on a few of my card - and I've tried to return to your blog - but I'm not 'allowed' to view it.......so....I don't know how to return the favor!!

Thanks for your visit!

Totally Hues Challenge#2 - Here's the Scoop!

Heather Pulvirenti of Witty Title Here started color challenges on her blog.  It's called Totally Hues and I was able to participate in her second challenge.  The challenge was to use: Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Fizz.  I colored up this Happy Hoppers image last week with my distress inks on watercolor paper.  The stamp is called "You snooze, you lose" and I agree!! LOL



I used three layers of Nesties dies and I embossed the middle panel with a PTI impression plate to replicate the waffle cone.  I added glossy accents on the ice cream and an A Muse sentiment.

Here's Heather's challenge if you want to play along!

Thanks for your visit!

Crafty Day with the yogi's!

For those of you who don't know.....I've been doing yoga for about 4 years. I started out with Bikram yoga (hot yoga) and then started taking the power yoga classes my studio offers.  I use to see people coming out of the power yoga class just DRENCHED with sweat and (oddly) that enticed me!

So, I began taking these classes with Penny and wow - do I love them (and her!).  These are some tough classes but she's so encouraging and has a great 'light' around her - you're like a moth and you want to just gravitate to her (am I gettin' weird here?)....Well, anyway....a few weeks ago in class, Penny & Nina (my fellow yogi) said they'd love to get together to do some crafting...so we picked a day.

I planned some cards to make, made the card kits and on Thursday they both came over to craft up some cards. They did really great and had fun.  So here are some pictures of our Yogi Crafting!!

Here's Penny and Nina posing with their first creation:

Nina - showing off her cards

Penny concentrating on getting that sentiment just right!

Yes - a bit of silliness

And here are the cards:  Girl Birthday

 Boy Birthday

Thank You

 

Holiday

We made one other card, but it's a duplicate of a card I've shown here before. 

Thanks for stopping in today! Hope you've got some great plans for your Saturday.  We have another Soldier Socks packing day - getting a bunch of stuff off to our troops in Afghanistan.

Maria

That's Amore

Well, it's Week 4 of the Stamping Bella search for a new Bella Babe!  I have entered each week and it's been a lotta fun! As I said before - I really won't be heartbroken if I'm not the new Babe - I'm glad I was able to participate using all my new Stamping Bella images!!!  The creations that the current Bella Babes have made and the other 'contestants' have been INCREDIBLE!!!  Be sure to check them out at the Stamping Bella Blog.

The final challenge was a free-for-all. Whatever you wanted to make it was your choice! So I chose to color up Kissy - a Mo Manning rubber stamp.

I pulled out my Papertrey Ink paper and loved the flower background so I decided to use it as my color palette for her outfit. Of course I used my prisma pencils on Bella's Bestest Paper.  I cut her out using my Nesties oval scallop die and then I made a few flowers using some flower punches and brads.

Since she was puckering up for a big kiss - I used my Amuse sentiment and lastly - I gave her a nice diamond tiara with Martha Stewart glitter!

On a side note - I have to say that I LOVE that Picasa 3 now give you a choice to use Picnik to edit your photographs!!  I never seem to be able to take a great picture of my cards and Picnik REALLY helps bring out the best of your cards. If you haven't tried it - I DO recommend it!!!

Well, we are in HOT HOT HOT Louisiana for the National Professional Fastpitch Softball Championship.  Our friend is the Commissioner of the league and we went down to support her and the league for their first ever championship.

So - in case you leave any comments - I'll return the favor when I return in a few days!!!
Maria

Relax...........

with scraps!  This card was made using only scraps that I had laying around - love that!  I actually made three of these cards!

Cindy and I made wedding invitations for our friends who are getting married in October (They haven't been mailed out yet - so we can't post them)...but from those invites, I had scraps left over. They've been buggin' me sittin' there on my counter - so on Sunday night - I decided to use some of them.

The card is pretty self explanatory - but I did make the sailboat myself (yes, you can tell right?). The "Relax" and palm trees are Studio G stamps. The clouds are from Amuse and the shell punch is from Martha Stewart.  The bucket was from a bag of buttons I received a while ago and have just been trying to use them up!

Well, that's my card 'o scraps :)
Thanks for visiting!!!
Maria

Wedding Card

Well, my friend Gisela is really keeping me in cardmaking business!!! Gotta love her (and all her friends that have a lot of celebrations, weddings, births and birthdays going on!)

Gisela asked me to make her a wedding card for friends in Switzerland. Usually she'll give me a few thoughts on what she wants the card to look like, but for this one - she said I could do whatever I liked!

So, of course...I had to run to the stamp store to see if there were any cute wedding stamps and I found this one from Hero Arts- which I thought was adorable! I loved the birdie in the top hat and the little hearts coming up from their kiss!
I colored the birdies with prisma pencils and gamsol. I used an Amuse "That's Amore" stamp on a Sizzix die cut tag. I used foof a la paper which has been sitting in my room waiting to be called upon and used a border punch, cuttlebug embossing swirl folder and some bling! I added a small pearl to the "bride's" flower in her hair and red glitter on the hearts! Lastly, I popped up the wings and hat for some dimension - but not too much since it's being mailed overseas!


I've been trying to get into the habit of stamping more than one image when I make a card - so here's the second card I made today. Pretty much the same theme, but I used a MFT sentiment "Love You More" over and over again on the panel on the left in yellow and one in blue - so it stands out. I also used PTI's polka dot stamps for the blue panel.

Thanks again for visiting today!

Maria

SC263 - That's Amore

Well, those after-Christmas sales did a number on my wallet - but...I'm not complaining!! It finally made me order some Stamping Bella stamps. I've shyed away from these stamps because they come shipped as bare rubber and that intimidated me a bit, but with a sale of 20% off, I decided to jump in and get over my fear of bare rubber stamps.

This here is Suzette Ketto. I used the Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge 263 for the card sketch but also submitted the card for the Stamping Bella "Lovey Dovey" theme.

Suzette is colored with prisma pencils and blended with gamsol. I used a black glaze embossing pen for her hair (as I've seen Paula do). It looks really great in person! I also used Bellas Bestest Paper, which..OMG is soooooooooo smooth!! Now I know why stamp crafters rave about this paper! I cut her out with an oval Nestie and layered it on a scallop oval Nestie. I used American Crafts paper from their "A la Carte" collection and finished off the card with an Amuse sentiment!

Thanks for taking a peek today!!!
Maria

Package of cards

Hello! It is EARLY on Sunday morning and the snowplow woke Layla who decided to bark for 5 minutes, so that means I'm now awake and I remembered that I had these cards to post! I can't wait for it to get light out so I can see how Layla (our new dog) reacts to the 6"-8" of snow we have outside. I've got my new Flip camera all ready!!

Anyhow....here are a few cards I made for gifts to go along with some other items I put together to give away this week.

The first card is a DeNami image with an Inkadinkado sentiment. (I love this sentiment). I paper pieced the girl's dress and colored the rest with markers. I finally used some of the dog bone brads that I've owned for about 4 years!!
This is a CAS card if there ever was one! I had the fire hydrant paper and matched it with another Inkadinkado sentiment. Added the ribbon and voila!

I guess I'm noticing that Inkadinkado were the stamps to grab for this round of cardmaking, huh? Here's another set used:

Finally, some PTI stamps come into the mix! I used the flower stamps from Button Bits set and their polka dot stamp as well. I added some Amuse clouds and a Hero Arts sentiment.

Lastly, this is a Studio G stamp colored with prisma pencils and punched out with a Marvy scallop punch. I used the Cuttlebug swirl embossing folder and a little bling in the lower corner.

Oh - I just remembered my dream last night too - I had to teach a prisma pencil coloring class because the teacher (my high school English teacher - where'd THAT come from?) didn't show up and I was the only one who had used the pencils before....oh...those poor students! I guess the Indian food we ate last night gave me dream-indigestion!

Anyways....thanks for taking a look today! If you've been blanketed with snow...I hope you enjoy it!

Craft Show Christmas Cards

One more day until our craft fair!!! Each vendor has to provide a raffle item for the Church - so in addition to a couple of our previous highlighted items, I wanted to make a few Christmas cards to add to our basket.

I can't believe I was able to make all these cards (I made two of each) in a four hour period! They are not overly-detailed....but still - this is a record for me!

Here's an Amuse gal colored with Marvy markers. I used a MFT sentiment and a snowflake punch.
Card #2 is a Memory Box stamp with an Amuse sentiment. I ripped a few pieces of iridescent paper to make snowdrifts and used my glitter pen to highlight the snowdrifts. The penguins outfit is also highlighted with white puffy paint (but the picture doesn't show it!)

Card # 3 is a Savvy Stamp poinsettia stamped in Colorbox Pigment ink and embossed with iridescent powder. I used a Cuttlebug swirl embossing folder and an MFT sentiment.

Card #4 & #5 - were very quick to make. I used patterned paper and two Inkadinkado sentiment stamps.

Thanks for taking a peek today! If you're one of our local blog followers - Cindy and I will be at St. Leo's Church on Roxbury Road, Stamford, CT this weekend. Saturday from 10am - 6pm and Sunday from 9am - 1pm. There are A LOT of vendors at this show - so come by and support your local crafters!

Thanks!

CPS 127 & My First Papertrey Ink card!!!

The addiction of Papertrey Ink hit me very quick at CHA this weekend. Holy Cow! I barely started taking the stamps out of the packaging and I HAD to make a card. I'm just lovin' how the paper, stamps, buttons and ink all flow together. I used the CPS 127 card sketch for this birthday card. The "Everyday Button Bits" set from Papertrey leaves areas for you to complete the image with buttons! How cute! Thank goodness for the gal behind me in line talking about it, or I might not have picked it up. I am so happy I did. I can see a lotta button use in my future! Details below!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Everyday Button Bits & Green Thumb, Amuse - clouds

Ink: Colorbox, Memento & Marvy

Paper: Papertrey Ink

Other: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots, silver embossing powder for bike


Thanks for stopping by!

Maria

40th Birthday Shutter Card

I (Maria) was asked to make a Tri-Shutter 40th birthday card by my friend Gisela for her friend Jon. She told me he loves golf and camping - so I worked along those lines for the card. I used the full card front template with Rob & Bob "Remember When" paper. More details below:
For the front of the card, I used Stampendous cupcake stamp. I embossed the candle and then used glossy accents. The sentiment is from Inkdadinkadoo and the "40th" from Martha Stewart. I also added brads on the corners.

For the inside of the card - I used Sizzix Roundabout for his name and added a button in the middle of the "O". There is a mix of Studio G, Amuse and Memory Box stamps and sentiments. All colored with Prisma pencils. I paper pieced the penquin's golf outfit to match the card too. The cake and the beer bottles are also finished with glossy accents.

I hope both Gisela and Jon like the card. What do you think??