CrAzY for the Twist - C4C179

We’re going cRaZy on the C4C blog today and doin’ The Twist!  C’mon baby!
OK, maybe not that extreme but Frances is challenging us to get a little twisty with our cards today.  Try making a Twisted Easel card, or maybe a stamping technique that involves a twist like this.  Or… here’s what I did!

I created a Triangle Tri-fold card, because it has a little bit of a twist when you open it up!  Now, don’t even start to think that this card design is hard… it’s not at all!  Try it once, and you’ll be making them all the time.  For my design, I used some new Pebbles paper and this tulip image from Flourishes, and added a few pearls as embellishment.  Now, here’s the twist…

When you open the card, it does do a little bit of a twist as you can see here…

And then here it is fully open.  Can you see how it works?  Check out the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers  HERE, and watch the video, too!  Believe me, these are so easy and fun to make!  Now, in hindsight I wish I had stamped the sentiment so that it was readable in this final, open position shown above.  But, it’s glued down so too late to change it and this is for my Mom anyway, and I know she’ll love it no matter what!  :)
Visit the Crazy 4 Challenges blog for all the details, and to see the other twisted ideas from the team members!
Thanks for stopping by!  Happy stamping!

Happy Spring - MFTWSC117

Happy Spring, HAHA!  Mother Nature and Punxsutawney Phil are laughing their heads off at us Midwesterners with our snow-covered “Spring!”  It sure doesn’t look like the gorgeous scene on this card, but we can always hope that Spring will actually show up soon!
This is my card for today’s Wednesday Stamp Club sketch for My Favorite Things using the new Inspired by the Front Porch-Spring stamp set.  I LOVE having a front porch… love to decorate with throw pillows, hanging baskets, rocking chairs, everything.  Trouble is, right now I don’t have a front porch and I miss it!  We just have a stoop… barely big enough for two people.  So I have to be satisfied with my old swing hanging in the tree instead, which is just as nice, but you can’t decorate as much under dirty old trees.  Instead we have something you can’t have on the front porch… a fire pit!  LOL
For my card, I used papers from Dear Lizzy “5th & Frolic” paper pad, and embellished with a Mini Rolled Rose Die-Namics with leaves from the Upsy Daisy Die-Namics.  I also added a Small Scallop Border and used my Fishtail Flags STAX for the sentiment.

You can also find the sketch on the MFT blog and in the MFT forum on SCS, as well as in the weekly newsletter. And the Design Team will be on hand to provide plenty of inspiration to get you started, too!
I hope you’ll play along!  Happy stamping!

Color Throwdown #235

It’s Wednesday, and that means time for another Color Throwdown challenge!  Denise is our hostess this week, and she has this color combo for today that’s inspired by these delectable cupcakes!  Oh my, they look delish!
I struggled with these colors.  They’re a little mono-chromatic to me, and that always puts a roadblock up on my creative mojo.  However, I snuck a little peek at some of the cards from the other team members this week, and saw that Broni used an old My Mind’s Eye paper pad on her card.  Once I looked and found the same pad, and papers that worked well with these colors, I was off and running!  Here’s my card, using the Mojo Monday sketch #286 for this week…

I decided to have some fun with a stamp set I hadn’t yet inked up from Papertrey Ink for my card, and played up on the arrow element in the sentiment by adding an arrow cut with my Lead the Way Die-Namics from My Favorite Things.  I embossed the background with a brick wall embossing folder and added a few chocolate brown pearls for embellishment.
Be sure to stop by the CTD blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration!
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Denise Marzec
Joan Ervin
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put
Wanda Cullen
Kim Howard, March Guest Designer
Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy stamping!

Stamps for Sale

My Stamps for Sale page has been updated once again!
Check it out HERE!

Thanks!

Bunny Treat Box - C4C178

It’s CrAzY for Challenges time again, and this week Frances is challenging us to use triangles in our designs!  Stop over at the C4C blog for all the details and play along!
Well, not being on to like this particular geometric shape that much, I felt my mojo plummet at the thought.  It must be my OCD and the fact that this is a 3-sided object… I’m just not an odd number person.  But then I did a little hunting for inspiration and came up with this idea!

I decided to make this Bunny Treat Box for the challenge, since the base of it is triangular (sort of!)  I found this cut file in the Silhouette Online store, and knew I wanted to make some for my little kids at church, so I decided to get started by making one for this challenge.  This is really easy to make, in the style of the sour cream containers we used to make years ago, and then you can embellish as you please.  I used some bead wire for the whiskers and decided to add the bow on the ear.  And of course…..

…a cottontail!  This holds 6 little foil-wrapped chocolate eggs perfectly or you could fill with M&M’s or anything you like!  I just put two temporary glue dots between each ear to hold the top closed.
Need some inspiration?  Be sure to visit the other crazies…

• Andrea Murdock
• Barbara Anders
• Betty Wright
• Cindy Haffner
• Frances Byrne
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Grzelak
• Kelli Hull
• Kristine Reynolds
• Silke Ledlow
• Silke Kittman

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Happy stamping!

Hi Friend - MFTWSC116

Yippee, I’m excited today to get to share the Wednesday Stamp Club sketch from My Favorite Things with you!  As part of my reign as guest designer this month, I get a jump start on the sketch challenges each week to (hopefully!) inspire you to play along, too!  So here’s my card for today using the new (gawwwjuss!) Inspired by the Front Porch-Spring stamp set.  I stamped the tulips from the set on X-Press It blending cardstock, colored with Copics and then I cut out the image with the Vertical Greetings II Die-Namics die.  I stamped the sentiment from the set on a Fishtail Flags STAX and layered with another flag behind and embellished with a Razzle Berry button and some hemp cord.
Here’s the sketch…

On the inside, I added the tulips once again and another sentiment from the set.

You can find the sketch on the MFT blog and also in the MFT forum on SCS, as well as in the weekly newsletter. And the Design Team will be on hand to provide plenty of inspiration to get you started, too!
I hope you’ll play along!  Happy stamping!

Color Throwdown #234

It’s time for another Color Throwdown challenge and this week Kerri is our hostess with this beautiful country photo for inspiration.  Kerri’s actually going to be taking some time off from the team, so I’m taking the reigns with the challenge today, so I hope you’ll play along!
I needed to make a name tag for myself this week, as one of the requirements of our newly formed stamp club was that everyone was to wear a hand-stamped, hand-made name tag so we could all more easily get to know each other.  Well, I knew I really wanted to use the new Poppy Builder Die-Namics from My Favorite Things, and since red was one of our colors this week, I decided to make my name tag for the challenge!

Lemme’ tell you…. that poppy is FUN to work with!!!  You can make it as big or as little as you want, and just a little hot glue and it’s super-quick to assemble, too!  There’s a short video HERE on the MFT site to show you how easy it is.  I added a couple of leaves from the Upsy Daisy Die-Namics and a Fishtail Flags STAX for my name.  I wanted to use my High Rise Alphabet Die-Namics for my name, but it ended up being too big, so I cut the letters out on my Silhouette instead.
Be sure to stop by the CTD blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration, including our new March Guest Designer!
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Denise Marzec
Joan Ervin
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put
Wanda Cullen
Kim Howard, March Guest Designer
Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy stamping!

Chalkboard Cards

I recently joined up with a new group of wonderful ladies in my area to form a new stamping club called Inky Impressions.  We’re having our second meeting tonight, and I’m on tap to give a demonstration on how to do the chalkboard technique, and help everyone create cards using it.

Here’s the card we’ll be making…

The stamp I used is from the Triple Scoop set for this month from My Favorite Things, the Birthday Sentiments and I was completely inspired by this card I saw on Splitcoaststampers.

Here’s another card I made as a sample for tonight…



This card uses the DC Vertical Greetings stamp set from My Favorite Things, and the matching Vertical Greetings Die-Namics die.  I used papers from My Mind’s Eye “Notable” 6x6 pad, and my new Die-Namics Sunflower, and Leaf-Filled Flourish as well as the Small Scallop Border die.

Looking forward to the fun tonight!  Happy stamping, and thanks for stopping by!

CrAzY for Sketches - C4C177

Crazy 4 Challenges time again this week, and today Frances has this great sketch for everyone to try!  Stop over at the C4C blog for all the details and play along!
For my card, I pulled out the beautiful new Pretty Poppies stamp set from My Favorite Things and made this….

The poppies were stamped with Love Letter Memento ink and the stems and leaves are Pistachio and Northern Pine.  I also used the new Poppies and Leaves Die-Namics, as well as the Dizzy Doily and Simply Scallops Medium Die-Namics.  The papers I used are from the Dear Lizzy “Lucky Charm” paper pad.
On the inside…

I added another poppy stamped in Old Paper distress ink and a birthday sentiment so I can send this to my aunt for her birthday!
Need some inspiration?  Be sure to visit the other crazies…

• Andrea Murdock
• Barbara Anders
• Betty Wright
• Cindy Haffner
• Frances Byrne
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Grzelak
• Kelli Hull
• Kristine Reynolds
• Silke Ledlow
• Silke Kittman

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Happy stamping!

Picture Perfect

Well, as you all know one of my favorite stamp companies is My Favorite Things.  No doubt about it, I’ve loved their stamps and dies for years!  So I’m just thrilled to get to bring the news today that I’m the new Guest Designer for April for MFT!  Woohooo!  I cannot WAIT to show you all the fun new products that will be coming out next month!  I’d advise you to stay tuned!  :)
Of course, I just had to get inky today and play along with the Wednesday Stamp Club sketch challenge #115 for this week, using a new-to-me Pure Innocence stamp set, Little Shutterbug.  Along with this stamp set, I also recently got the Cute Cameras Die-Namics so I had to use the polaroid die on my card!  The papers I used are from Crate Paper “Maggie Holmes” collection which were a perfect match with my photography theme going on here!  And before you start to think I’m a little off my rocker, yes I did turn the sketch on it’s side!  :)  I finished off the design with a little zig-zag stitching, some seam binding and a button.

I added the PI image again on the inside, and the “celebrate” sentiment from another set to make this a great birthday card.
Thanks for stopping by today, and happy stamping!

Color Throwdown #233

It’s time for another Color Throwdown challenge, and this week Lori is our hostess with these fabulous colors…

I got this darling Little Mermaid recently from Lili of the Valley so I thought I’d take advantage of the green in this color combo to use her for my card today…

I used papers from an old Echo Park paper pad for my card, and computer-generated the birthday sentiment.  The mermaid is colored with Copics, and then I used some Spica glitter pens to add some sparkle that you can see in the photo up above.  I also masked the image after I had it colored and added the blue “water” around it using my Copic airbrush system.
Be sure to stop by the CTD blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration, including our new March Guest Designer!
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Denise Marzec
Joan Ervin
Kerri Michaud
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put
Wanda Cullen
Kim Howard, March Guest Designer
Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy stamping!

Up, Up and Away - C4C176

It’s time for another cRaZy challenge, and this week Frances is challenging us to be negative!  (Hey, there are some days when I can be the QUEEN of negative, so this is right up my alley!)  Oh wait, Frances means to use the negative of die-cuts!  OK, I can do this!  LOL
Here’s my card…

I used the Butterflies Die-Namics from My Favorite Things to cut out the negative in my die-cut circle for this challenge, using pretty new papers from Dear Lizzy “5th & Frolic.”  The layout for my card comes from the MFT Guest Designer sketch for this month and I added a sentiment from the Great Outdoors stamp set.  Other Die-Namics used include the Fishtail Flags STAX and the Little Open Scallop Strip.
If you decide to play along with us, all you have to do is create a card/project and upload it to your blog and/or to your SCS Gallery using the keyword C4C176. And don't forget to hop back over to the C4C blog and link it on the Inlinkz so that everyone else can see it too.
Need some inspiration?  Be sure to visit the other crazies…

• Andrea Murdock
• Barbara Anders
• Betty Wright
• Cindy Haffner
• Frances Byrne
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Grzelak
• Kelli Hull
• Kristine Reynolds
• Silke Ledlow
• Silke Kittman

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Happy stamping!

Stamps for Sale

Don't forget my Stamps for Sale page!  Some sets that were previously marked as sold have become available again due to non-payment, so be sure to check them out HERE!  

Thanks!

Color Throwdown #232

Color Throwdown time again, and this week our hostess is Joan with this beautiful, Spring-time color combo!  I think this could even pass for beachy colors, don’t you?  At any rate, I love it and am so anxious to start seeing flowers in these colors in my yard, instead of the SNOW!
For my card, I found a few pieces of paper in my Pebbles “Walnut Grove” paper pad that worked well, and made this card with a Lili of the Valley stamp…

This stamp is called “Blooming Lovely” and colored with Copics.  I have no special need for this card this week, but am happy to add it to my stash in case I need a thank you note soon!  :)
Be sure to stop by the CTD blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration, including our new March Guest Designer!
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Denise Marzec
Joan Ervin
Kerri Michaud
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put
Wanda Cullen
Kim Howard, March Guest Designer
Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy stamping!