Art Impressions Challenge #69

     This week the team at Art Impressions has asked us to make a gift card holder.  I don't do this very often, and I had to take a peek over at Splitcoast Stampers to get some ideas.  I hope you enjoy what I came up with.

Here is what I used:
Card stock:  Pure Luxury Black and White
Designer Paper:  Colorbok
Stamps:  Art Impressions Catching Z's Set # 4161, Stamps by Judith branch, bobber, and hook, Outside   sentiment is Clear Dollar Stamps
Inks:  Copic markers, VersaMagic, Memento
Embellishments:  Jute twine for closure, and Crystal Effects

     This will come in so handy for one of the men in my life.  Hope all of the predicted storms are not so violent. I was lucky last night, but just south of me was hit hard.  My sweet friends hubby was hit by flying debris while walking their dog before bed.  That is so not good!  Thanks for stopping by.

Another FwF Post!

     Phew, it is a hot one today!  The perfect time to check out the line up of contributors on the Unity Blog for Friends with Flair.  Gosh, there are some gorgeous projects!  Grab yourself a nice cold drink, and spent a little time browsing all the entries.

      Today I want to show you a card that I made with the June, Kit of the Month, called {Sweet Summer Love}.  I started with black and white Pure Luxury card stock, and an additional panel of Basic Grey Marrakech designer paper.  Don't you just love the hexagon stamp that is in the kit?  The postage sentiment and butterflies are awesome, also.  I stamped with Versafine black, and clear embossed each stamp.  Coloring is with Copic Markers in the following colors:  0, YG11, YG93, Y38, R24, B23, and BG15. The sentiment and butterflies are popped up on shallow dimensionals.

How do you like my color combo?  I was liking how it flowed.  This is the point where I get to say TGIF!  Hope you have a goodie, and thanks for stopping by!

House Mouse Monday Challenge and Celebration

Well now, here we are with the official start of Summer, and the temps just can't seem to make up their minds.  The newest challenge at House Mouse Monday, is #122 called "Liquid Refreshment for Hot Summer Days".    Now we all know these mice can get into the craziest places, and they sure know how to cool off!

The House Mouse Monday blog has also hit a milestone and they are celebrating 1000+ followers!  Congrats, you are all so awesome!  So, in honor of all these happenings, their are some amazing prizes up for grabs!  Please click here, and check out all the rules.

My stamp is called Sweet Treat for Two HMLA 1035
Inks:  Copic Markers, VersaMagic Pixie Dust and Key Lime for sponging
Dies:  Nestabilities Petite Oval Large
Card stock:  Pure Luxury white
Designer Papers:  KI Memeories, Juicy Summer Collection
Embellishments:  KI Memories chipboard and gems

So what do ya think?  I want some of what they are having!  Care to join me?  Thanks for stopping by!

Unity KOM Sketch Challenge for June 2012

     June is almost over and I wanted to be sure and play with the June KOM Sketch over on the Unity blog.  I decided to use the April 2012 kit to create this card.  Isn't this a great sketch?

     I used Pure Luxury card stocks, and Cosmo Cricket designer paper.  I embossed one panel with the SU! square lattice folder.  Coloring was done with Copic markers and a Sakura Stardust pen.  Gems were used for embellishments.

     I have lots of family members interviewing for new jobs, so I thought this would be a great card to share if there is a disappointment.  Not always easy these days.  Fingers and toes crossed doesn't always work.

     Sending up prayers for those in the path of fires and storms.  Have a blessed evening.

This week at Joan's Gardens

     The challenge at Joan's Gardens is to create a card or project that is an Oldie but Goodie.  Well, I could not think of a better stamp and sentiment in my collection that portrayed that ten this combo from River City Rubber Works called Church Ladies 3042-N and Blue In The Hair 1942-F.  The reason I came to own these stamps has a story.  One of my best friends growing up, had 2 aunt Alice's.  One was younger, and one elderly. If we would discuss them, I would always ask if it was regular aunt Alice or aunt Alice with the blue hair, which was the elderly one.  We still laugh and joke about it.

The challenge requirements are as follows:

Use and Oldie but Goodie theme
Use blue on the project
Include corner elements
Make it for a friend

     My card base is Neenah card stock.  The Designer paper is from Basic Grey's Picadilly.  My corners are from Sizzix Sizzlets Architectural Accents.  I used Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Three for my image and sentiment.  My image is clear embossed over Versafine ink and colored in Copic Marker.  Sponging is Memento Summer Sky.  My embellishments are blue gems, and Prima flowers.

     I had a wonderful play day with a stamping friend, and we exchanged so many great ideas!  We must do this more often.  What I would not give to have some of my blog friends closer.  Okay, that's it for me.  Time to do a bit of TV before bed.   Night, night.

June with the Roses

     Here we are on the last Sunday of the month, and it's time for another visit with our beautiful bunch of Roses.  This month, Patti Sue Rose has chosen our theme, which is "Summer".  Ahhhhh, sweet summer.  I went with a tropical theme, as we have hosted a few luau's here at the lake.  We have not had one in some time, as they get to be a bit of work.

For my card I used the following:

Paper:  Red & White generic card stock, Basic Grey designer paper
Stamps:  Impression Obsession, Gina K. Designs
Ink:  Memento, VersaMagic, and Copic Markers
Embellishments:  Prima Flowers, MS branch punches, Dew Drops, Sakura Stardust pen

     I am not sure how many of the Roses are playing along today, but you can find the links to their blogs on my sidebar.  ~~~~~~~>  Have a great Sunday!

AI Challenge #68 Make Us Laugh

Most of the Art Impressions stamps that I own, are ones that will cause a chuckle.  One that has been sorely neglected is the Old Lady Maude and her morning coffee.  I just love the rollers in her wild hair, and her face that looks like a prune!  Her # is I-1238.  She looks like I feel on most mornings, and I would just adore a pair of those bunny slippers.  Come on, I see a smile!

My card is a white base with digital coffee paper.  I made a frame of red card and layered on a die cut from my new Spellbinders Floral Oval dies.  I did some sponging with Poppy Parade from SU!  Maude was stamped, colored with Copic markers, and cut out to be centered on the oval.  The sentiment is digital, which I think is a riot,  and has no designer attached to the file.

Hope you are having a fun Saturday night.  I tried a couple of new recipes I found on Pinterest this week.  Hubby was happy and his brother cleaned up the leftovers when he came to go fishing.  I have tried 4 recipes so far and they were all keepers.  On the pie, I cheated and used a refrigerated pie crust.  On the Parm, I used breast tenders instead of full boneless breasts so the time could stay at 30-35 minutes.

Corn, Tomato, and Cheddar pie
Chicken Parm Casserole
Grilled Cabbage
4 Ingredient Chicken 

I feel like I have been in such a cooking rut, and these make me feel that I can climb out of it. If you need a change, give them a peek.  Pinterest, where have you been all my life?

Hot Friday and FwF!

     They had promised that Friday would be cooler here in PA, but not so far!  Even kept the computer off most of the day in case the storms rolled in as promised.  Well the sun is out and I need to post my Friends with Flair post!

     My first card is using The Kit of the Month from January 2011, called "to the moon & back".  It was one I selected as part of my prize.  I also wanted to try out one of the new in color ink pads from SU!  I must say, they do stamp easier.  The new color is called Midnight Muse.  I also used Crumb Cake ink on my Soft Sand card stock.  I added a couple of stars that set like eyelets, and a little silver Stickles.  The embossed blue card stock was bought that way.

     My second card is using a Unity stamp from my grab bag prize.  I just fell in love with the rustic flag and sentiment.  The little burst was in the bag also. So, to sum up what I did for this one, it is as follows:
Red card base
Embossed white stamped with the little burst stamp (Crushed Curry)
Coloring was done with Memento Markers
Embellishments are a sticky star border, red tulle, Prima flower, gems and gem brad.

    You have the rest of the evening to get a project in for Friends with Flair over on the Unity blog.  If not, please go check out all of the gorgeous work that is linked up!  Happy start to the weekend!

Art Impressions Challenge #67

      Hi, it's me again!  Getting ready for a crazy heat wave that is going to usher in the first days of Summer.  They say it should be back to "normal" by the weekend.

     I realized I was running out of time for the Art Impressions Challenge for this week, so I hopped to it, and came up with a tag to cover the Husband/Father theme.

Supplies:

Manila Tag, digi papers, background and sentiment unknown stamps, coloring with Copic Markers, stitched ribbon, hemp twine, and a great AI stamp K-1686 Slim the cowboy popped up with dimensionals.

     I also want to share a photo of my new stamp rack that DH made for me.  We saw the idea on Pinterest, and he ran with it!  It came out super awesome, but whatever made me think I was going to create lots of room.  Basically, it holds my Art Impressions stamps, and my House Mouse stamps.  I put some of my large stamps on the wider shelves on top.  All I cleared was one drawer and three shoe boxes.  LOL!  Guess it's a help, huh?  I love that the door hides it when it's opened.

     Thanks for paying a visit!

Joan's Gardens #22 Child's Card

     Good Morning!  Hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend.  I did not have much crafty time, but I did get to see both of our children for a bit.  I also got to do up red beets from our garden and then turn them into a big batch of pickled eggs.  Yum!

     Today's card is for the weekly challenge at Joan's Gardens.  This week Joan has asked us to create a card for a child.  I decided to use an adorable stamp from my new Unity KOM of June, that arrived the other day.  I though I could use this for a kids summer birthday, with maybe a little chipboard number, or just to celebrate fun and the end of school. The sentiment is from the kit, also.  I think it looks so much cuter when you click the image and make it larger!

     I would lso like to enter this over at the Craft-A-Lot Blog:  Use a Unity stamp and Embossing

     Here is what I used.

     Papers:  Card stock from Bazzill, Designer papers from Basic Grey's Sugar Rush, Generic white & teal
     Ink:  Image stamped in Versafine and clear embossed.  Coloring by Copic Markers, Sponging by        Memento
     Embellishments:  Ribbon, and sticky gel dots from Jolee's

     Thanks for taking a look!

My Friday FwF Posting!

     It's Friday, no clouds in sight, and all seems right with my little world at the moment.  Hope you are doing well, and have a super weekend planned.  As I did not get to play last Friday for the Friends with Flair, hop along, I really felt like something was missing.  This week, I was able to complete one Unity card, and hope to have some playtime this weekend.

     For today's card, I used the May KOTM, called Love in an Instant.  I won a big lot of Memento markers on Ebay this past week, and I thought the collage stamp with the bird would be fun to use them on.  I started with a base of a grey/taupe card stock from my stash, and added in designer papers from Basic Grey's Sugar Rush collection.  The memento markers I used were: Lady Bug, Pear Tart, Tangelo, and Danube Blue. For embellishments, I used half of a paper doily, a 3D flower from K&Co., and corner punches from SU!

     The prizes for the Unity challenges are to die for!  I just received my prize for winning Sketch of the Month, and let me tell you, it is jaw dropping, amazing!  Come play along!  It's easy, it's fun, and you get to be inspired by some of the greatest talent out there.  Have a fantastic weekend!

House Mouse #121 Here Comes the Sun!

     The 2 week challenge at House Mouse was a tricky one for me. The theme is Here Comes the Sun. What I finally settled on, was a scene that plays over and over here on the lake.  The weather gets warmer, and the edges of the lake starts teaming with the frogs ready to mate.  Once they settle into their yearly process, they are not going to move until the ritual is complete.  As you gaze down into the water, the eggs are visible as long ribbons of jelly dots, glistening in the sun.   It is so much fun to witness the circle of life.

     Here is what I used:

     HM #45 Frog Floating
     HM sentiment  111759
     Sun stamp from All Night Media

      My card base is one of the newer Bazzill textured card stocks, and I used my new Romantic Rectangles from Spellbinders.  Things were stamped with Versafine ink and clear embossed.  Coloring was done with Copic Markers, and sponging was done with Memento and VersaMagic inks.  My pond leaves were cut out with Donna Salazar's Carnation Creations by Spellbinders.  Dewdrops were added to depict the eggs. I added a tiny bit of sparkle to the water line with a Sakura Stardust pen.

     That is it for now.  We are having tropical downpours, and it is so dreary.  Hope you are having a great Tuesday, wherever you are.  Thanks for stopping around.  It means so much!

Art Impressions Challenge #66

     This week, the challenge over at Art Impressions is to use Fitness, Workout, and Dieting in your creation.  I thought long and hard on this one, and here is what I came up with.

     The Art Impressions stamps I used are as follows:

     P-1499  Fence
     E-1025  Clouds
     U-1719 Back   Piggy and friends
     U-1719 Front   Piggy head

     I used the back on the front of the card, because I thought it was more dramatic.  I just love doing the front and back cards, however they do take some extra time and patience.  Everything was colored with Copic Markers, and Distress Ink.  My sentiment was computer generated.  The grass is a Die-namics die from MFT.  I used a scrap of unknown polka dot paper from my bin for the inside. A tiny outline of Sakura Stardust pen was used to outline the clouds.

     Don't you just love the faces on the animal friends pushing piggy over the fence?  What a hoot!  

Joan's Gardens Challenge #21

     My mojo took a little vacation last week, and I did not get many challenges completed.  I wanted to make sure I did not miss Joan's Gardens challenge this week, so I got to it!

     Here are the details for Joan's Challenge:
     Use and Embossing Folder:  I did but can't remember the name.  It is a Cuttlebug!
     Use Pink:  I actually used a couple of shades.
     Create an opening with a die:  Mine are Spellbinders , Large Deckled Rectangle.
      Include leaves:  I cut apart my Fanciful Flourish by Cheery Lynn.

     The inking is with Blushing Bride by SU!, gems are from ICON, Flowers are from Prima, and my sentiment is a Lockhart stamp and the pink stitching is from Technique Tuesday.

     Hope you are having a fabulous Sunday!  Time to go see what else I can get into.  Bye for now!

An Extra Entry for AI!

     I felt like I cheated the other day, when I double dutied my House Mouse card for the Art Impressions, Seeing Spots Challenge, LOL!  I decided to sit down and do a card totally dedicated to AI.

     I created my base with a pale purple, pearlized card stock, layered it with white, and added a polka dot designer paper from my scraps.  I stamped my new "Little Whoot", colored him with Copic markers, punched him out with an SU! scallop punch, and inked the edges with VersaMagice ink. The sentiment is from an old clear set which has no maker listed.  I built up a corner with Prima leaves, vintage ric-rac, a big white button, and popped Little Whoot so he was nestled down it it all.  I added a few glitter dot stickies to my sentiment, and called it done.

     I hope your week is starting out nicely.  Weather wise, the temps here in PA are amazing.  I woke to 49 degrees this morning!  Rain wise, you best be carrying an umbrella at all times.  It starts raining at the blink of an eye, with the promise of the whole week being like this.  So much for the pulled pork that my DH wanted to do in the smoker.

     I may be back a bit later, with another challenge card.  See you then!

My Unity Post

     TGIF!  It is also Friends with Flair day over at the Unity Blog.  I broke out one of the past KOM's that I recently purchased during a great sale.  This one is from July 2011, and is called "Better Together".  So many cute stamps, I had a hard time deciding what to play with!

     I was drawn to the yummy ice cream cone and sentiment.  Stamping was done with Memento Rich Cocoa and clear embossed.  Coloring was done with Copics, and I added some Stickles and Crystal Lacquer for texture. My center strip and the little ledger piece are leftovers from Cosmo Cricket.  Prima Flowers, cotton lace, and cranberry pearls are my embellishments.

Papers Used:
Ivory and Soft Sand Pure Luxury card stock
Soft Suede card stock from SU!
Basic Grey from the Oxford Collection

     That's it for now.  West of my area is under tornado watch all evening, so I'm going to keep one eye to the sky.
Hope you all have a pleasant weekend to start out the month of June!