Little Boy Blue

I got the idea for this card from the Unfrogettable gallery at Splitcoast. You can see the inspiration card {HERE}. An aunt of mine wanted me to make a miscellaneous card kit of about 20 cards to have on hand. I whipped out most pretty quick until I got to the masculine cards. I'm still not very good at masculine cards. I knew I wanted to use Unfrogettable to make a little boy card and went in search of a good idea. This color blocking with the images was so cute and super easy. I changed the colors from the inspiration card to fit a little boy. I went with Basic Grey, Always Artichoke, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip and Ballet Blue. I only used scrap pieces to make all the squares. I used my Creative Memories square punch to get them all the same size. I inked all the edges in Close to Cocoa and added the stitching with my SU Basic Black marker. The sentiment was stamped on Brocade Blue and cut out with my Wide Oval Punch. Super easy, I can't wait to try this with some other stamp sets too!!!
Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:
Stamps: Unfrogettable (su)
Ink: Basic Black, Close to Cocoa
Paper: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey, Always Artichoke, Baja Breeze, Ballet Blue
Accesories: CM Square Punch, Wide Oval Punch, CM Cutting System

A Garden Of Flowers

A friend of mine needed a thinking of you card and this is what I came up with.This is probably one of my all time favorite color combos. Real Red, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy and Kraft. You can see two of my other creations with this color combo {HERE} and {HERE}. It's such a great color combo. I used Sketch 71 from Sketches {by tamara} and only tweaked it a tiny bit by running the ribbon the other way. The flowers were colored with my copics and all the edges were inked with Close to Cocoa. I'm really loving tying button onto the ribbon lately. It just a cute additional touch. The only thing I don't like is it adds so much dimension to the card you have to pay extra shipping but I think it's worth it!!!!
Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps: Flower Chat (stampendous), Thinking of You (inkadinkadoo)

Paper: Brocade Blue, Kraft, Very Vanilla

Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Copics

Accesories: Brown Gingham Ribbon, Button, Brown Floss, Paper Piercer, Lace Scallop Punch

Happy Thanksgiving!

More Thanksgiving Graphics

Jumbo Pink Flowers

Have you seen this weeks From Courtney's Closet Challenge??? OMG, that dress is adorable and Libby's card is fantastic!! I was inspired immediately. I knew right away I wanted to use the big flower from my Verve set Abundant Blessings to mimic the pattern on the dress. I choose Pink Piroutte and Pretty in Pink for this card. I randomly stamped the flower in Basic Black and I love the simple outlines. I also couldn't resist inking my newest Plain Jane from Verve. I stamped it in Basic Black on Pretty in Pink and used my nesties to cut and emboss it (the embossing is a little hard to see on this one).
I tried to mimic the bow on the dress but the ribbon won...lol!! I just couldn't get it to look right so I went with a simple tailored bow and added a black button in the center.
I really wanted to add some shimmer to the card so I added a silver dot of Stickles to the center of the big flowers (look close, it's there). Thanks for stopping by!!

Recipe:

Stamps: Abundant Blessings, Philippians 4:13 (verve)

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black

Ink: Basic Black

Accesories: Silver Stickles, Pink Ribbon, Button, Black Floss, Rectangle Nestablities, Brads

Recipe Challenge #25

I thought I was doing good on my christmas cards. I felt like I had made quite a few. But I counted them today and only have 18. Yikes, I need to kick it into gear. I decided to make one for this weeks Recipe Challenge at Sketches {by tamara}. This weeks recipe is:
*Polka Dots
*Felt
*Something Sparkly
I used my snowflake dies to cut a piece of red felt as my main embellishment. The polka dots came for this cute red ribbon and the something sparkly didn't photograph well. The button I choose has a little glitter in it but you can't see it in the photo very well. I tried to take a close up shot but keep blasting out the color with the flash or it was way to dark. You'll just have to trust me, it's there!!!
Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps: Weathered (su), Snowflake Splendor (verve)

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Glorious Green, Merry Christmas (the paper studio)

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa

Accesories: Snowflake Dies (spellbinders), Red Polka Dot Ribbon, Button, Black Floss

Verve Project Parade

While I was trying to decide what to make for this Project Parade, I came across a stash of burlap I bought and never used (who does that). Since I’m addicted to Kraft paper, burlap seemed like a great fabric substitute. This burlap sack was super easy to make. I started with a 5x10 piece of fabric, folded it in half, sewed the sides with my sewing machine and turned it inside out. You could easily stitch it by hand too. I couldn’t resist getting the snowman from Snow Wonderful inky again, he’s just too cute!! I was going to stamp right on the burlap but the material distorted the image too much. Hum….now what? How about a pair of old jeans!! I stamped right on the denim with Black Stazon Ink and colored the image with my Copics. I’m not sure if you’re suppose to use copics on fabric but it seemed to work. (FYI..the blues seemed to bleed more than the other colors).
I cut out the snowman with my Scalloped Rectangle Nesties and my Cuttlebug. I had to run it through a few times and then still have to use my scissors to finish the cuts. Even with fabric, I couldn’t resist inking the edges. I used a sponge and my Chocolate Chip ink to “muddy” the edges of the denim. I attached the denim panel with brads only! I was going to use fabric glue but was afraid it would make the ink run. The brads attached super easy, I just poked a hole with my paper piercer.
To finish off the bag, I threaded some black floss through the top to be able to cinch it shut a little. Since that was a little plain I couldn’t resist adding my other addiction, gingham ribbon. I tied the ribbon in a bow and then used the floss to hang the tag stamped with the Season’s Greetings sentiment from the Snowflake Splendor set. I also tied a button on for a finishing touch!!
A few candy canes and this bag is ready to be given as a gift!
Wanna play along? All you have to do is create Anything but a Card and link up your creation to -> this post <- by noon on Friday, December 5th. You don’t have to use Verve Stamps, but if you have ‘em, why not give ‘em some love? If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword VVPP08 so we don’t miss your eye candy! A random participant will be drawn on December 6th to receive $15 in Verve Bucks to spend at the Verve Stamps store! Good luck and have fun!

Recipe:
Stamps: Snow Wonderful and Snowflake Splendor (Verve)
Ink: Black Stazon, Copics, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Paper: Very Vanilla
Accesories: Brads, Red Gingham Ribbon, Burlap, Black Floss, Wide Oval Punch, Button, Candy Canes

Casing Maria (no not me)

I loved this weeks Color Challenge at Splitcoast and knew I had to play along. The only problem was I couldn't come up with an idea. I mean everything else was there, Kraft, Black, Red, why couldn't I come up with a layout. Then while blurfing I came across {THIS BEAUTY} by Maria Fiscella. She really makes the most wonderful cards! I think it has something to do with her name, Maria = creative genius, not that I am biased or anything...lol.
Anyway I knew I had to case it and this is what I came up with!

I inked up my Verve snowflakes from the new Snow Wonderful set in Whisper White ink and stamped in onto the Kraft. I also inked the edges in Whisper White to soften the edges. I had to try stamping on acetate again and used the snowflake from Snow Swirled. I really need to get more colors in Stazon, any recomendations for which are the best colors??? The snowflake was attached with the silver brad to the kraft layer. I stamped my sentiment from Snow Wonderful on Very Vanilla in Real Red and again inked them edges!!! A little gingham, (I told you it was a little break) and it was done. Really easy, really fast and one of my faves. It's hard to go wrong with such an amazing color combo!!
Thanks for stopping by!

ETA: Make sure you stop by my friend Courtney's blog and check out her amazing blog candy!!

Recipe:
Stamps: Snow Wonderful (verve), Snow Swirled (su)
Paper: Kraft, Basic Black, Real Red, Very Vanilla, Acetate
Ink: Black Stazon, Whisper White, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Accesories: Red Gingham Ribbon, Silver Brad, Wide Oval Punch

Watercolored Flowers

Yeah I got to Beate's Weekend Sketch!!! It looked like a fun one and I had the perfect idea in mind. It's been a while since I watercolored and I wanted to play with this technique again. I know I've been using these flowers alot lately but they've really grown on me again. Plus, I've never watercolored them so I gave it a shot. I used my SU markers and my aquapainter for the job. It really was a lot of fun except that I woke up with a crick in my neck and hunching over the table while I colored this only made it worse....grrrr. The things we do for art?!?!
Everything else is pretty straight forward and all my usuals are there, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, whoa, where's the gingham??? I liked the sheer better this time so you got a break (a little break). Thanks for stopping by!!!

Recipe:

Stamps: Field Of Blooms (stampendous), Best Yet (su)

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Watercolor Paper, Daisy D's decorative paper

Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Real Red, Bravo Burgandy, More Mustard, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Really Rust

Accesories: Aquapainter, Gold Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, 1 3/8 circle punch

Verve Day 3

Do you usually buy a poinsettia for christmas?? Not me, I just don't care them, aside from the fact that they are poisonous if my children eat them, they are just not a flower I enjoy. I'm just not a traditional christmas girl. I don't decorate with Santa and other classic items. I love snowmen and whimsy and vintage!!! Needless to say this made me a little worried when I got the new Poinsettia Christmas set for the Verve release. How was I going to be able to pull this off??? After two failed attempts at a beautiful, classic, christmas card I felt beaten. Then I decided, poinsettias can be fun and whimsy, so I went with it!!! I absolutely love the way this turned out. Once I pushed aside all my "traditional" thoughts about this flower this came so easy. And any of you regular readers know that angles and I have issues so this was a shock even to me. I stamped the poinsettia three times on Real Red and cut them out. I attached a button in the center of each flower by sewing it on. The idea for the ribbon came because I couldn't decide which color looked better...so I went with both. I threaded them through the jumbo eyelets and attached a ribbon.

So have you checked out the Verve Project Parade going on over at the Verve blog??? I hear Monday's project is going to be really cute!!! No idea who started that rumor but please feel free to continue it..hehehe!!!

Where Oh Where Have The Layers Gone????

Maybe I bumped my head or I'm still a bit out of it from the flu but I'm really having a great time making cards with less layers! And white space??? Yeah I must still be sick. I haven't reached for my Whisper White card stock since I bought my Very Vanilla paper. Why today, I don't know. I was going to leave it completely white and then chickened out before I attached the flowers. I stamped the Weathered background in Close to Cocoa and am glad I did. I love this card. Even my hubby picked it as the fave of the five I made today. It's just so cozy. I used the new Verve releases Poinsettia Christmas and Snowflake Splendor. I stamped the flower three times on Bravo Burgandy. I cut one of the flowers out and popped it up in the middle for dimension. It's been awhile since I rounded any corners so I decided to round the bottoms of the base and the burgandy. I tied the brown gingham ribbon around the card and tied a button in the center with my tan floss.
Maybe I'll get back to some layers soon...maybe not???? :)
Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps: Poinsettia Christmas (verve), Snowflake Splendor (verve), Weathered (su)

Ink: Basic Black, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Whisper White, Bravo Burgandy

Accessories: Brown Gingham Ribbon, Tan floss, pearls, button

Channeling....

.....Julia Stainton! I'm such a huge fan of her style!! So shabby, so chic, so yummy!!! I got this new french script background on sale at hobby lobby and couldn't wait to get it inky. I also saw a card the other day were Julia attached a clear transperancy she stamped with a staple (sorry I couldn't find the card). I loved the idea and knew I wanted to try it with my Verve butterfly from Fluttering By. Since the only color of stazon ink I have is black my options were limited (poor me I know, I knew you'd understand) I cut it out and stapled it in the center to the kraft layer. I added some flowers and matted my sentiment from Birthday Surprise to a postage stamp I cut in my cuttlebug. I'm really happy with the way this came together. I've tried to mimic her style before with no luck, it just never felt like me. This card was a perfect blend of her style and mine, I love it!!!!!!!

Detail shot:Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps: French Scripct Background (stampabilities), Fluttering By (verve), Birthday Surprise (verve), postage stamp

Paper: Kraft, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, Sage Shadow, Clear Transperancy

Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Close to Cocoa

Accesories: flowers, pearls, staples, lace punch, postage stamp die

The Biggest Challenge Yet

Wow, I almost missed this weeks recipe challenge. With me and (eventually) all three kiddo's getting the flu I wasn't overly productive in my craft room. I only managed to post last week because I had projects finished before I got sick. This weeks challenge was a tough one and so I kept putting it off, then I almost forgot to email it. UGHHHHH!
Here are the ingredients:
*Stamping
*Flowers
*2 Pictures
Yeah, 2 pictures!!!! I was stumped. I was going to make a card with two pics of my kiddos but never made it to digging through my box of unscrapbooked pics (I'm way behind). I finally decided to make my stamped flowers the "picture". I used my favorite Stampendous flowers and stamped them twice on kraft cardstock. I cropped them the same size and then colored them with my copics. The flowers in one are colored the exact opposite of the other. I inked the edges of the kraft and the dp and mounted them direct on my cardstock base. I can't remember the last time I made a card with this few layers but I still like the way it turned out. It's so much lighter than the usual 8 layer cards..hehe!
Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps: Flowers in Bloom (stampendous), Short and Sweet (su)

Paper: So Saffron, Kraft, My Minds Eye

Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Copics

Accesories: Brads

Some Awards and Stuff!!!

I've received two awards lately and decided to post them here together. These awards are super cool because they are both from two rockin' Colorado chics!!! I love both of their blogs!!!! Make sure you swing by to check them out.

The first is from Christi Milliken {Blessings On Paper}

The second is from Toni Armstrong {Moved To The Mountains}

I decided to pass these awards on to a few other Colorado Chic's I love!!!

Julie Hunt

Stephanie Hargis

Laura Davis

Kazan Clark

Pamela Smerker

Alyssa (this is a new blog find for me and I really love her stuff!!)

One more thing!! Remember {THIS} plaque I made for my Verve guest design spot? Well, my blogging friend Anne Marie Peterson made one two and it's super cute. You can see it {HERE}!!! I'm so happy to see I inspired someone else to make one too!!!!!!!

Verve Day 2

This was such a fun Verve project to make!! I found this ornament with this plastic red ribbon on it at Dollar General. I loved the sparkle of it right away.
It was super easy to alter, the ribbon just pulled right off. It was only attached with a few dobs of hot glue and they scrapped right off. I did have to take the bottom off (the light box center) to be able to attach the brads through the box. I just used my paper piercer to make the holes and it went right through. The sides are stamped in Versamark ink with the single snowflakes from Snowflake Splendor. I added Heat and Stick Powder and glitter for an oh so pretty shine!!! (there is a close up pic below). I had intended to stamp the front on vellum to but was having a hard time not smearing the ink. I dug through my old cardstock and found this (thin) white cardstock that you could still see through when the light was one (SU's whisper white was too thick). I stamped the snowflake blocks along the top and bottom in baja breeze ink and centered the sentiment and stamped it in Basic Black. It looked a little bare so I stamped the little star on each side in baja breeze and added a brad to the center of each! I inked all the edges in black and attached the paper and vellum with a little adhesive (I didn't use to much because I didn't want to see it when it was lit) and the brads. The backside is bare.
Now I had the top to do!! Before I reattached the light box I used my paper piercer to make holes in the top to thread the silver cord through. I tied knots on the underneath side to keep it in place. I then reattached the light box with some E6000 glue. Next, I added the polka dot ribbon along the sides and attached it to the bottom of the box. Then, I glued on the primas and tied the same ribbon through a white button and added it to the center of the primas. That's it!! This project only took about 20 minutes and that includes deciding which stamps, colors and accesories to use. I really need to hit up the dollar store for more as these would make wonderful holiday gifts!!!

Hope you loved this project, thanks for stopping by!!

Recipe:

Stamps: Snowflake Splendor (Verve)

Paper: White Cardstock (Colorbok), Vellum (SU)

Ink: Baja Breeze, Basic Black (SU)

Accessories: Ornament (dollar store), Black and Blue Flowers (Prima), Silver Cord (SU), Silver brads, button, heat tool, heat and stick powder (SU), Glitter (SU), black swiss dot ribbon

Burgandy Bella

I am in love with this weeks colors at The Color Throwdown blog!!

Bravo Burgandy
Bordering Blue
Not Quite Navy (I got my navy's mixed and used Night of Navy :)


Bordering Blue was one of SU's colors I never even paid attention to until I started color challenges. Now it's one of my favorite blues!! I stamped the flower from Bella Blossoms in Versamark in on Bravo Burgandy. I like the soft look of it. It was kind of hard to get a good photo (it's much prettier in person). I used my new lace punch from Martha Stewart and I'm blaming Cindy Haffner and Amy Sheffer for this. They make such gorgeous cards with this punch, I had to have it :) And I'm warning you now, I went to hobby lobby last week and ribbon was 50% off. I bought 10 rolls of gingham ribbon, if you hate gingham, this is the wrong blog for you...lol!!! I love this ribbon (obviously).
I couldn't resist distressing the edges of the blue and burgandy with my scisors. I wanted a worn feel since these colors just seemed so classic!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps: Bella Blossom, Sanded, Short and Sweet

Ink: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Paper: Bordering Blue, Bravo Burgandy, Kraft, Night of Navy

Accesories: Brads, Brown Gingham Ribbon, Lace Border Punch

Verve Day 1

As promised, I'm back with my Verve release cards. I thought today I would show you one that wasn't featured on the Verve blog. If you thought Some Bunny was cute, you'll be blown away by Hello Pumpkin!! He is so cute!!!
I knew when I was invited to join the diva's for this release I had a certain sketch in mind, this stamp set worked perfect for it. Why this sketch you ask???
As you may all know I love Verve, I have from the beginning of my stamping career. I loved not only Julee's stamps but also her sketches. They helped start the creative process for me and I liked that, especially when I was new. Well, Verve had a sketch challenge to be a guest designer and I was super excited, I knew then I wanted to be a part of Verve. I told my hubby someday I would work with Julee :)
Anyway, since I was new the cards turned out.....um...less then WOW. I swear if Julee remembered I was the girl who tryed to blow her away with {THESE} she might have thought twice about this guest spot...LOL!!!
This sketch beat me then but I was determined to create something I loved with it now. This sketch was still a bit of a challenge (it's that diamond behind, I have a hard time getting it perfect) but I'm so happy with this card. I love the colors, it's just really cute!!!!
Make sure you stop by the Verve blog today to check out the new spotlight designer Sarah Gough, I love what she made with Poinsettia Christmas!!!
Also, swing by the Verve store to check out all the great deals while they last!!!

Verve Spotlight!!!

OMG!!!!!! Today was my day to be featured on the Verve blog!!! I'm shaking with joy!!!! I still can't believe it all came and went so fast!! Make sure you swing over and check it out. I'll be posting the projects on my blog over the next few days too with details and recipes!!!!!
Also have you seen the deals over at the Verve store???? Julee is offering some amazing deals on her Verve stamps, there is no better time than now to add (or start) your Verve collection!!!!!!

My Daily December Album

I am a huge fan of Michelle Wooderson, (her style just makes me ooh and ahh) so when she posted her Daily December Album, seen {HERE}, I was immediately hooked. I had to make one too!!!

So what is a Daily December Album??? It's a 25 page album for photos and journaling the first 25 days of December. Sort of a count down to christmas album. You keep track of all the little things you do everyday, it may be decorating the tree, making christmas cookies, or running to the grocery store, whatever, you put it all in. I'm hoping to add some of the kids holiday projects from school and maybe even santa letters.

I also drew inspiration for this album from:

Ali Edwards (she has a two part tutorial on making this album)

Pine

Ronda Palazarri (her album is not a daily december but I LOVE her style)

Want to see mine????

I love the shabby, worn feel of this album!!!

I took a close up shot of the front cover to show you the chipboard. It is for the Created by Courtney challenge this week to use chipboard on your project. I covered mine with red gingham paper and sanded the edges.

I started numbering my pages and then stopped. I decided to number them as I go in case one day needs a lot of room and one not so much. This way it's easy to switch the pages around.

Yes, I stuck my hand in this shot for a reason...lol!! It's to show you that I used a transperancy for this page. I attached the dp on the front and back side with double stick tape. the line paper is the page before. I attached the arrow (su arrow punch) and it worked out perfect to point to the next pages mat (this was a happy accident :)

I'm not posting a recipe for this project, (there is too much to list), so if you have any questions on what anything is please feel free to email me.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Super YUMMY Happy Mail

I just had to show you what came in the mail today!!!! I won the new Paper Crafts Gourmet Cookbook on Kim Hughes' blog Paper Hugs and Stamped Kisses. You seriously have to stop by and check it out. Not only is she a super talented illustrator (for CHF) her cards are all fabulous!!!! My sister is ordering me four sets of her stamps for christmas. Hum.....now if it were only December 25th, (I'm not so patiently awaiting :)

Recipe Challenge Card

Sorry for the delay in posting today's Recipe Challenge Card. I'm still not feeling very good, really tired, a little queasy and the house is a disaster. How it gets that messy when all you do is lay around is beyond me????
This weeks recipe:
Squares
Paint
Punctuation Mark Thanks for stopping by, hopefully I'll be back with regular posting tomorrow :)
ETA: This was also for CC191 over at SCS.

Recipe:
Stamps: Cause for Celebration, Birthday Whimsy, Expressions Set (Li'l Davis Designs)
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Pretty in Pink, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Kraft, Very Vanilla, Kraft, Pretty In Pink, Kiwi Kiss
Accesories: Paper Piercer, Pretty In Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, CM Square Punches

The Flu......

...me, and two kiddos.....ick!!!

No Card, Just News

Sorry, no card today :( I have a friend coming over today to make some christmas cards and to work on our December Daily Albums. You can read more about this idea {HERE}, they are so cute!!! I'll have some pics when I'm done!!!
I just wanted to remind you all to come join us tonight {HERE} on the Verve forums for the release party. It starts for me at 6 pm (mountain time). Hope to see you there!!!!!!!

I Think It's The Ribbon???

I like this card, just don't LOVE it!! I'm blaming the ribbon. I think it's maybe a bit to thin, wimpy, I think I needed a chunkier ribbon, what do you think??? I made it for Laura's sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You and I just adore the circles. I pulled this never used butterfly stamp out (which I kind of have a crush on now) and inked it in Riding Hood Red. Am I the only one with stamp sets that have so many cute ones uninked??? I don't know how it happens. I have a hard time digging through my SU sets and using something new. I bought each set because I liked one or two and everytime, that's the stamp I use. Any tips for showing some love to those ink free ones???
Don't forget to stop by the Verve forum tomorrow to celebrate the release of all the fabulous new Verve sets. All the winners will be announced and there is always some fun conversation. You have until tonight at midnight to finish all five sketches to be in the drawing for the entire Verve release!!!! Hurry, hurry, you don't want to miss out on these!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps: Cause for Celebration (SU), Happy Birthday (Imagenisce)

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Kraft, Very Vanilla, My Mind's Eye

Accesories: Paper Piercer, staples, ribbon, brad, Scallop Edge Punch (SU)