Monday, May 30, 2011

You Make My Heart Sing

On this Memorial Day I am reminded of the true cost of freedom.


And I am grateful.


Photo and video from the  Mark A. Forester family website.

I hope your Memorial Day is a day of both celebration and reflection.

Now for the project of the day. This is my version of the latest My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch (MFTWSC21). As you can see I'm using Webster's Pages patterned paper again. I love the paper but I always seem to collect it more than actually use it. It is so beautiful that I'm often intimidated but I'm making a concerted effort to put it to work. As per usual, I stamped my image (My Favorite Things Jolinne My Heart Sings) onto Copics X-Press It blending cardstock and then colored with Copic markers.



Products: My Favorite Things stamp and Die-namics, Webster's Pages dp, PTI cs, metal die and button, Creative Imaginations felt, Copic Markers 

Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11, R20; Hair-E50, E51, E53, E55; Clothings/Shoes-BG0000, BG10, BG11, C3, C5, C7; Board-E35, E37, E57, E29; Shadow-W00, W1, W2

Thank you for stopping by.  



Saturday, May 28, 2011

A Girl and Her Cake

I hope your long Memorial Day weekend is off to a great start. Don is already on his way to a golf course and I'm sitting here drinking a cup of coffee before getting started on the day. We really worked hard around this house this week and we both deserve a break. So really my day is free to do whatever I want. Hmm...wander what that might be? Maybe some crafting...or just reading...or both. My aunt and sister loaded me up with new books this past weekend so I am set for some summer reading.

Today's card is for this week's The Cat's Pajamas Tuesday Challenge (TCPTUES160) which is a sketch. Normally I am not a huge fan of sketches but I always like Leigh's as they are never boring. I stamped the TCP Girl and Her Cake image onto Copics X-Press It blending cardstock, colored with Copic Markers and then cut out. After mounting onto a paper doily I placed pop dots underneath the bunny ears. I finally cut into one of my new My Mind's Eye Lime Twist 6x6 pads for the staggered background pieces. I did change the sketch up a little by creating it in portrait style.


Products: The Cat's Pajamas stamp, My Mind's Eye dp, PTI die and cs, American Crafts ribbon, Spellbinder's Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Copics: Bunny-E50, E51, E53, R20, R22, R24, YG11, YG13, YG25; Cupcake/Candles-BG0000, BG10, BG11, E57, E25, E29, YR12, YR16, Y21, Y35

I do not understand Blogger at all these days. Not only do they have the logging in issue on some blogs (which I've never understood anyway) and my follower's have all disappeared but now I can not upload my photos directly into a post. I had to go around it by uploading to my Picasa web album and then linking from there. There is no easy way that I found to search what image you want to link so I had to just page through to the end. In the grand scheme of life not a big deal but it is definitely a pita.  

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge - Felt

It is time for another All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge. There is a great prize being offered and in order to be eligible to win, your project must include a stamp that is sold in the All That Scraps shop whether it is any of the wonderful in house designs or from the various other stamp companies that ATS carries. Be sure to link up your project with Mr Linky by next Tuesday at 10PM EST and only one entry per person please! Today's challenge is to use "felt" on a project.

After I completed last week's challenge, I decided to expand on that idea and create a card set using all the fruits from the Flitter Friend collection. Other common elements include the challenge to use felt as an accent and the Webster's Pages dp.







Products: Sweet November stamps, Webster's Pages dp, C.C. Designs Butterfly Cutters, PTI felt, metal die, cs and buttons, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Maya Road stickpins, My Mind's Eye brad, Kaisercraft and Basic Grey Pearls, Copic Markers

Copics: Blueberry-BV0000, BV01, BV23, BV25, YG91, YG93, YG95; Raspberry-R32, R35, R37, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG30, YG26, G0000; Blackberry-BV23, BV25, BV29,YG91, YG93, YG95, Y30, Y26, BG0000; Strawberry-R22, R24, R27, R46, YG91, YG93, YG95, YR30, YR31, Y26; BG000

I realize the blog has been a little quiet lately. I hope you understand that right now I am dealing with other priorities. My heart goes out to the city of Joplin, Missouri as we in Alabama completely understand what the people are going through right now.


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Cars and Trucks

This is my first time to use one of My Favorite Things Wyatt stamps. I found him in their Bubble Bin last month and somehow he found his way into my cart. I guess he knew I really don't have many boy related stamps. I stamped Wyatt, the wagon, ball and truck image onto Copics X-Press It blending cardstock. I colored everything with Copics with the exception of the paper pieced shirt. The layout is based on this week's My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club (MFTWSC20) sketch.



Products: My Favorite Things stamp, Echo Park dp, Bazzill Basics embossing folder, Fiskars border punch, Spellbinders Nestabiltiies, Copic Markers

Copics: Hair-E000, E00, E11; Hair-E35, E37, E29; Jeans-B93, B95, B97, B99; Wagon/Toys-R22, R24, R27, R29, Y11, Y15, Y17, YG11, YG13, YG17, N5, N7, N9; Shadows-C00

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back tomorow with a new All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge project.



Wednesday, May 18, 2011

All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge - Handmade Box

It is time for another All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge. There is a great prize being offered and in order to be eligible to win, your project must include a stamp that is sold in the All That Scraps shop whether it is any of the wonderful in house designs or from the various other stamp companies that ATS carries. Be sure to link up your project with Mr Linky by next Tuesday at 10PM EST and only one entry per person please! Today's challenge is to make a "handmade box".

I used this tutorial: Pizza Box from Split Coast Stampers to create my box. As you can see it is pretty basic and really only took a few minutes to make.


I stamped the strawberries image from the Sweet November Strawberry Flitter Friend set onto Copics X-Press It blending cardstock, colored with Copic Markers and cut out. I adhered my layers for the top of the box from several sheets in the Webster's Pages Spring Market/Yacht Club 6x6 pad. I added my  stamped piece, butterflies cut with the new C.C. Designs Cutters and a flower cut with a My Favorite Things Rolled Daisy Die-namic. Easy!



Products: Sweet November stamp, C.C. Designs Cutters, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Webster's Pages dp, My Mind's Eye decorative brad, Copic Markers

Copics: R22, R24, R27, R46, YG91, YG93, YG95, YR30, YR31, Y26, BG000

Have fun with the challenge!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Rain, Rain

Good morning. I hope you had a nice weekend. It's going to be a busy week around here. I haven't had my car for the past two weeks so I've been putting off errands and it is catch up time now.

I am double dipping on challenges today as this card is for The Cat's Pajamas Tuesday Color Challenge (TCPTUES158) and also follows the May Sketch for You to Try. I used this same TCP Wet Puddle stamp for the last TCP challenge but it just seemed so perfect for the color combination required. I stamped it onto Copics X-Press It blending card, colored with Copics and then cut out. I thought she needed an umbrella this time around so I performed some PSE magic on a Tiddly Inks digital image and then printed it out onto patterned paper. I attached both pieces to the embossed background piece, placing pop dots underneath the umbrella. I did add a bit of extra color with the yellow and white ribbon. As far as the sketch goes, I did some minor adjustments to it, allowing the umbrella to replace the small circle. I combined papers from the new My Mind's Eye Lime Twist 6x6 pads and some older paper from my stash.


Products: The Cat's Pajamas stamp, Tiddly Inks digital stamp, My Mind's Eye dp, May Arts ribbon, Bazzill Basics embossing folder, Kaisercraft pearls, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11, R20; Hair-E50, E51, E53, E55; Clothing-YG01, YG11, YG13, BG70, B91, B93

I hope all is well with you.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

As Sweet as Spring

Our neighborhood is slowly getting better from the tornado although there is still a lot of tree debris piled up in front of houses. The city of Hoover has sent trucks out several times to pick up or else it would look a lot worse. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for so many other areas. The utter and complete devastation is mind numbing. I know that we are blessed we were not hurt or that we did not suffer any damage to our home. So many others have lost so much. When I came out of Whole Foods on Friday to a big, black cloud I visibly gulped and eyed it rather nervously. I think everyone in the state of Alabama is going to be doing that for a really long time. Please consider helping any way you can. Here is a page listing the help that you can provide: Alabama Possible. A super easy way to give is to text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to or “GIVE” to 80888 (Salvation Army, my personal favorite) to give a $10 donation. 

I combined two My Favorite Things Pure Innocence stamp sets for this card, Out on a Limb and You're so Tweet. The latter set I received in a fabulous package from Joanne as part of her recent two year blogaversary at ...just A Little Something... It was a huge thrill to open the package just chock full of fabulous My Favorite Things stamps. Thanks again Joanne!

I stamped the P.I. girl from the You're So Tweet set onto Copics X-Press It blending cardstock. I drew in some socks with a Copics Multiliner pen. I also stamped trees from the Out on a Limb set and then cut out with a Spellbinders Nestie. I colored all with Copic Markers and then cut out the P.I. girl with scissors and mounted it to the stamped background piece. I generally followed this week's MFT Wednesday Stamp Club Sketch (MFTWSC19) although I did reduce the number of banners as well as positioning them at the top of the card rather than at the bottom. I used some of the teeny tiny dies from the Notched Tag Die and Stamp set to decorate the banners and also the smallest of the rolled roses Die-namics. the sentiment is from the Out on a Limb set. The patterned paper is old, old, old.


Products: My Favorite Things stamps and Die-namics, PTI cs and ribbon twill, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11, R20;  Hair-E30,E31, E35; Shoes-N1, N5, N7, N9;  Socks-RV00, R81; Dress-BG70, BG72, C00, C1; Bird-YR30, YR31, Y26; Background-E51, E55, E57, G20, G40, G82, BG70 

Thank you for stopping by. I know I have not been posting as much as before. Frankly, it's been hard to concentrate knowing how many of the people of my state and other parts of the south are suffering.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge - Paper Piecing

It is time for another All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge. There is a great prize being offered and in order to be eligible to win, your project must include a stamp that is sold in the All That Scraps shop whether it is any of the wonderful in house designs or from the various other stamp companies that ATS carries. Be sure to link up your project with Mr Linky by next Tuesday at 10PM EST and only one entry per person please! Today's challenge is "paper piecing". 

I chose to work with Lillianne from the Sweet November Princess collection. I stamped the dress portion of her dress onto patterned paper and cut out trimming very close to the black ink edges. I then stamped the whole image onto Copics X-Press It blending cardstock. I also stamped her right arm section again since it was positioned over the dress. I colored both images with Copic markers and then assembled the image.  I dethroned this pretty princess by swiping away the crown in her hand before stamping and replaced it with a diecut butterfly. By the way, the butterfly is the small one in a set of new C.C. Cutters. They are out of stock right now but I am sure they will be back in the ATS store soon. Seriously, you "need" these!!

 
Products: Sweet November stamp, C.C. Designs Cutters, Cosmo Cricket dp, Kaisercraft pearls, My Favorite Things sentiment and Die-namic, Taylored Expressions die, Stampin' Up ticket punch, Copic Markers

Copics: Hair-Y21, YR31, Y26, YR23; Skin-E000, E00, E11, R20; Dress-E41, E41, E42

I hope you will join the challenge this week. Have fun!


Monday, May 9, 2011

Wishing You Sunshine

Today's card is for The Cat's Pajamas Tuesday (TPCTUES157) Challenge which is to use buttons. I stamped the Wet Puddle image onto Copics X-Press It blending cardstock and then cut out with a Spellbinders Nestie.  I paper pieced most of the image and then finished it with Copic Markers. Since I wanted to use several buttons as a border, I decided to cut paper ones out with My Favorite Things button Die-namics in order to reduce the bulk.  I also used a TCP Flower Button CutUps die cut on felt to represent the sun.


Products: The Cat's Pajamas stamp and Cutups, Echo Park and Cosmo Cricket dp, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Twinery Twine, Spellbinders Nestabilities, PTI felt, button and cs, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11, R20; Hair-E30, E31, E35, E37; Shadows-BG0000, B000

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

It is time for another All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge. There is a great prize being offered and in order to be eligible to win, your project must include a stamp that is sold in the All That Scraps shop whether it is any of the wonderful in house designs or from the various other stamp companies that ATS carries. Be sure to link up your project with Mr Linky by next Tuesday at 10PM EST and only one entry per person please! Today's challenge is "anything goes".

For my project I used the brand new released Flitter Friend from the Strawberry set. She was stamped onto Copics X-Press It blending cardstock, colored with Copics and then cut out.  Imagine her surprise when a butterfly landed on her set of wings.



Products: Sweet November stamp, Making Memories dp and chipboard button, Echo Park dp, Twinery Twine, Kaisercraft rhinesstonesSpellbinders Nestabilities, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Copic Markers

Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11; Hair-E50, E51, E53, E55; Wings-G20, G21, G24; Clothes-RV00, R81, R83

I hope you will join us this week. Have fun!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Thank You

When I got up this morning I had actually decided not to make a card for this month's My Favorite Things Guest Designer Contest afterall. Everyone in the state of Alabama has much more to think about it right now including us.  But honestly, I really needed to decompress and papercrafting always seems to help take my mind off things. I think it just hit me today how close we really came to being hurt or having our house damaged or destroyed. Members of my family were in mortal danger as well with the tornados that tore though my hometown. It's all so hard to comprehend. Please keep our state as well as many others across the south in your prayers.

The paper I selected last night were totaly different than what I actually used. But after finally receiving some good news last night for a change, it just seem to morph into a patriotic theme. I'm very proud of our military, our president (past and present) and our intelligence community right now as they have rid of us an evil person who has been allowed to prey on Americans for far too many years. I am not a particularly violent person but I do think the world is a now a better place.  

Now on to the card for today. I stamped Fred Bear Out West onto Copics X-Press It blending cardstock, colored with Copic markers and then cut out. Since the theme is actually Blue Jeans and Bling I used an old denim fabric tag from a Making Memories as a background panel and added some Heidi Swapp bling and an old Ki Memories rhinestone heart to replace the the sheriff's badge. 


Products: My Favorite Things stamp, twill ribbon and Die-namics; PTI sentiment and cs, American Crafts brad, Heidi Swapp and Ki Memories bling, Copic Markers

Copics: Bear-E50, E51, E53, E55; Hat/Boots-E40, E41, E42, E44, R27, R29, C3, C5; Scarf-W00, B93, B95

I hope all is well in your part of the world. Thank you for stopping by.