A BIG Hill...

A little tiny tree on a BIG hill.....quick and super easy card for all of those pesky "Over The Hill" cards we need!!

Color Pencils, Spicas

Stamps - A Muse, Memory Box, CTMH

Inks - Memento

Mutantizing Julie's Card

In July, I took the classes Julie Ebersole taught at The Paper Garden. We did the the base of this card (uhm, the coral, the blue rectangle and shells) for a cute stationery set. For the set, we made 4 identical cards and a few other items that all fit nicely in a stationery box - honestly I had no idea what the class was....I just signed up for ALL of Julie's classes (after stamping for nearly 18 years, only once in a while do I ever learn some NEW nifty cool trick in any class but mostly I think of Julie's classes as dinner & a floor show....entertainment well worth the price!!).

And as I so often do - I digress.......when I got home with all of my loverly cards from class - I promptly started cutting things up from the stationery set (darling as it was, I knew I wouldn't use it or would I give it away.....so basically I had some really expensive "scraps") and then started messing around with the cards as well....and this is the result.

CB - PTI

Stamps & Twinkle Stickers (gemstones) - A Muse

Inks - Memento & Colorbox Chalk

Copics & Spicas

Birthday Balloons

Stamp - Inkadinkado

Martha Stewart Loopy Border punch

QuicKutz diecuts

B&T paper - ???

CS - CTMH

Rainbow Ink pad

Stickles

A Muse Sheer Ribbon

Brads - Making Memories

Rat Dreams

Stupid PIXEL crap..........

I'm soooooooo disappointed that I can't enter the Sublime Stitching Combo Contest thingy. Because of pixels.....PIXELS.......friggin' pixels I tell you...........who gives a rats ass about the flippin' amount of PIXELS????? I don't care - I don't even know what PIXELS are all I know is that apparently I have tooooooo many of them..............so IIIIIII can't enter this stooooopid contest (gosh, do I sound a tad bit bitter????).

So, after SLAVING away on this "project", I had to put it somewhere (besides Creepella's room - it's going to be made into a pillow - and she wants it..........probably just for the skull-factor). So instead of blogging a card today - you've stumbled upon my "Rat Dream" nightmare!! Does anyone get the whole "Rat Dream" reference?? Any "Willow" fans out there???

Heavy sigh...................such is my lot in life..................

Friggin' PIXELS...............

So the contest was to use 3 different pattern sets from Sublime Stitching's line of transfer patterns (I used the rat from "Gothic", the cat from "Cat-A-Rama" and the meat selections from "Meaty Treats"). Chef Bo-B0 Head and Creepella helped out with the design portion (yes, we are a sick leeetle family) and then I found The Purrfect ORANGE skull material to stitch on and and Ta-Dahhhhhhh!!!

Very Busy

LOTS of "fussy cutting"..............but theraputic.




Flower stamp - CTMH
Sentiment stamp - Michael's $1.00 bin
Basic Grey paper
Cuddlebug Embossing folder
Martha Stewart border punch
Memento Ink
Copics
Stickles

2 Views of a Cupcake...Modern Art??

Vertical View

Horizontal View

Not certain which I like better!!

Stamps - Hero Arts

Martha Stewart Punches

Memento Ink

Copics

Liquid Pearls

Stickles

Doily

DMC Perle Thread

B&T paper from Michaels

CS - CTMH

Floating Happiness

EK Success Punch
Sentiment Stamp & Cloud CS - A Muse
Ribbon String stamp - CTMH
Ink - Memento
CB - Memory Box
Stardream CS
Star Gemstone - ???

Flower Trio

This card is deceptively SIMPLE in design but it took me literally HOURS to create. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm not able to do any stamping Monday through Thursday (and through August my non-stamping extends to Friday evenings too). Thankfully my family picks up most of the slack on the weekend so that I can get in some concentrated stamping time. Which would be cool if I had any friggin' ideas..........yes folks I've been part of a weird scientific experiment. All these years I've spouted off to new stampers "The more you stamp, the more the ideas you'll get!" Over the last couple of months, I've proven my hypothesis.....yes indeedy, my Theory is a fact!!

The less I stamp the fewer ideas I have popping into my brain. Quite depressing really.........

Hence the hours it took to create this card........geez, hope it sells!!

Stamps and B&T paper - CTMH

Inks - Memento & Colorbox Chalk Inks

EK Success stamp

Stampin' Up small circle punch

Misc: Ribbon, Stardream CS

Big Wishes

This card idea came from a magazine......and I'm too far away from my stamp room (and too lazy) to go and try to track it down. Anyhow, when I browse through stamp magazines (sadly I have NO current subscriptions), I usually have some Post-It notes or tab markers to make notes regarding card designs that catch my fancy. I almost never COPY a card in its entirety but I love taking bits & bobs from here & there and creating something excitingly new.

Cardbase - Memory Box
Stamps - PTI
B&T Basic Grey
Punch - Martha Stewart (Quilt??)
QuicKutz large candle die cut
A Muse Sheer Ribbon
Stickles
Gemstones - Hero Arts

Happy B-Day Karen!!

Card idea swiped from The Paper Garden......cool way to use the large Martha Stewart punch right? The tags are fun and easy too...........semi-interactive cards are always a good thing!

CB - PTI
Stamps - CTMH
Orange Kitchen Cardstock & sheer ribbon - A Muse
Punches - Martha Stewart and Marvy
Ink - Memento
Stickles
Gemstone - Sandy Lion??

Floral Smiles

The card inspiration? The ribbon....kind of looks like cherry blossoms. I whipped out my handy-dandy Asian-looking "Unforgettable" paper pack from CTMH and I was in business.

The card is pretty simple, I used a border & corner punch for texture, sponged the remaining straight lines of the B&T panel and added the ribbon. The double-layered flower punch is popped out with foam tape for some dimension.

Stamps - Hero Arts

Punches - Martha Stewart Border & Corner set, Marvy flower punches, corner punch

B&T paper - CTMH

Inks - Memento & Colorbox Chalk Inks

Ribbon - Michaels

Recovery Wishes

Puny Pun-Puns..........I'm a sucker for them..............

This stamp set (from PTI) has been languishing on my shelf for too long - since I needed to make a "Get Well" card for our up-coming card release, I finally had a good excuse to use this baby!!

Coupled with Basic Grey's Lily Kate B&T paper, WOW - the card just fell together. Oh and the ribbon - I love, Love, LOVE the two-tone ribbon.....no matter how it's tied, it always looks great!!

In just a little while Creepella and I will be meeting Heidi, my cousins and my cousin's daughters at the theater and we will be partaking in a "Twilight" marathon - we'll be watching Twilight, then New Moon and then finally (at midnight) we'll see be seeing the first showing of Eclipse.....and how cool is this.....popcorn, pretzels & Icees for dinner. Yumm-O!!

I know we'll have a blast and I also know that it takes me longer to bounce back after a movie marathon (especially if it involves a midnight movie) - I'll be taking a bit of break from blogging, I' be back on Sunday...........happy stamping!!

Stamps - Papertrey Ink
B&T paper - Basic Grey
Inks - Memento & Colorbox Chalk Inks
Copics & Spicas
Liquid Glass - CTMH
Ribbon - May Art (??)

Seas The Day

Saw the punched borders in different cardstock colors in a new card magazine and really liked the look. Since I had this new Martha seashell border punch just about screaming to be used, well - really, I had no choice!!

I did all of the punching of the cardstock and then layered it as I liked, glued it all together and then cut it into 2-inch "strips" (I made 5 cards). The cardstock and B&T paper is from CTMH (it's a retired paper pack but since all CTMH paper packs coordinate, the possibilities are only limited to your punch selection). Since A Muse's "Seas The Day" sentiment was the starting point to the card (well, right after wanting to do the whole punched rows of course), I knew I wanted to do an ocean theme. How good of Martha to make available the seashell border and the sand dollar punch!!

Stamps - A Muse

CS, Textured CS and B&T paper - CTMH
Punches - Martha Stewart and Marvy

Scalloped Scissors - Fiskars

Ink - Memento & Colorbox Chalk Inks

Huffing & Puffing

Weird Confession: When I was little and would read The Three Little Pigs, I was absolutely terrified for them because that stupid wolf wouldn't leave them alone. I kept telling my parents we should live a brick house (they had no idea why I developed such a love for brickwork) - as we drove around, I would point out brick houses and expound on the virtues of the brick-ness of the house. No, we never did live in a brick house...and thankfully we never had a wolf huffing & puffing at our door.

Here's a "Tent Topper" card - from Splitcoasters. Isn't it funny how you can do the very same thing and never give it a name and find it later with an "official" title. That's how it is with this card - I've made several cards constructed like this through-out the years and now it has a name (go figure). The only problem with this card is you can't really put it into the protective sleeve AND have it open and close. I have to stamp the inside sentiment on printer paper and attach it to the back of the protective sleeve so our customers know what the heck the card says inside. It's worth the extra work since customers always like a little twist on the card construction.

I let the colors in B&T paper dictate how I colored Cuppie and the cake. A glaze pen made the frosting glisten and Spicas added shimmer to the fire and puff of air from Cuppie. I did a bit of sponging on the edges of the scalloped circle to add some definition. Popping out the scalloped circle with foam tape (cracked open my new roll that I received for mom's day.....it feels so luxurious to have a giant roll of foam tape next to you....) added a nice bit of dimension and the sheer ribbon made the card complete.

Stamps - Taylored Expressions & Hero Arts
Inks - Memento & Colorbox Chalk Inks
Copics & Spicas & Sakura Glaze Pen
Marvy Corner Rounder
A Muse Sheer Ribbon
CS - PTI
B&T paper - ???

Cattails

There's a blog that I look at fairly regularly (I think it's called flowerbugs inkspot)- she does some really cool "punch art". She's a Stampin' Up demonstrator so naturally the punches she uses are from S.U. That's fine since I have quite a few of them too and I really enjoy it when you can use a punch in a multitude of ways.

She showcased the above idea in a different way.....she used a stamp for the cattail grass and she had a bird from one of the new S.U. diecuts instead of the butterfly. The two things that caught my eye: the use of the small slot punch for the fuzzy cattail and the softly sponged background. I added a bit of ribbon and changed out the sentiment (her card was a Sympathy card).

My card has the sponged background (wipe the sponge, don't do the daubing motion), since I didn't have a big grass stamp (the largest stamp was not big enough), I just used a Memento marker (brush tip) to make the grass. I punched the beige Stardream CS for the cattail fuzzies (had a deep bronze-brown too but that was too dark).

I made this card for a friend who's father has recently died (instead of a sympathy card - she's not wild about sympathy cards). I like the calmness of the card, the soft colors and it seems as if those cattails will start swaying at any time.

This card makes me think of my mom and even though she's gone, I think she would have liked this card (she would have told me how clever I was....) - today is her birthday....I miss her a lot.

Stamps - CTMH
Ink & Marker - Memento
Punches - Stampin' Up and Marvy
Ribbon - ???