Catching Up (and a card)

I have been feeling very disconnected from my blog. The only posts you've seen from me are the ones I set up weeks ago to auto post for Design Team assignments. It's been super busy around here. Father's Day weekend was filled with family and I was busy the prior week with menu planning, grocery store runs and getting the house cleaned and ready for overnight and long weekend guests. Then my step-granddaughters who live in North Carolina stayed with us for a week longer. We had a fun week with them with lots of activities during the day and watching movies at night. We met their father half way between Alabama and North Carolina on Tuesday to get them home. Even at half way it's an all day trip.

And the big news is that we have a new puppy. We lost our little Yorkie, Chloe almost 7 years ago.  My husband declared that he never wanted another one, that he was too old to have his heart broken again.We had another dog for a while that we took in when my father-in-law passed away but she was old also and we had to put her down when she became too ill and wouldn't eat anymore. Don's feelings about her were all connected with his dad so that was so difficult for him to deal with as well. So again, I heard no more dogs from him. The past couple of years though we started talking about how much we missed having a pet. And I could tell he was warming up to the idea. Then my stepdaughter emailed me one day and said that she wanted to get her dad a dog for Father's Day! She wanted me to look for one here and when I googled yorkshire terrier puppies+Birmingham and what turned out to be our puppy popped up first! We timed everything so that I went to get her on the day she and our granddaughters were driving up from their beach vacation. It was a total and complete surprise for Don. And of course we absolutely love Zoe and she is part of the family already! We are going through the usual training problems but she is worth every minute of potty issues. She is very attached to us and has major separation anxiety issues which is a struggle as I simply do not know how to help her through it. Here is a phone snapshot taken the first few minutes at her new home which explains why she looking at us as if to say, "who are you people?" I promise I won't inundate you with puppy pics!

Now on to my card for today. I've actually had this one done for a while I love the cottage image from the Market Street Home Sweet Home stamp set. I've stamped it before but this time I wanted it to be more whimsical. Matching the sweet colors from the Echo Park Everyday Eclectic 6x6 pad I created a girly playhouse that you often see in backyards. I placed it in a "grassy hill" cut with a combination of The Cat's Pajamas Grass and the Holiday Toppers CutUps and added the sun and cloud cut with Lil Inkers Designs Large Sunshine and Rainbow and Clouds Die set. The image was placed on pop dots for dimension. Sadly, Market Street is now out of the stamp business.

Products: Market Street Stamps, Echo Park dp, PTI button, Kaisercraft pearl, The Cat's Pajamas CutUps, Lil Inkers Designs dies, Spellbinders Nestabilities
Copics: W00, E81, E84, G0000, G000, G00, RV00, R81, R83, R85, BG0000

I have to set my craft table back up as I put everything away for the big family weekend. I plan on doing that on Friday and hopefully get back into the creative groove.


My sale page.

Home is Where the Heart Is

Good morning. Happy Friday to you! 

I have another card today featuring the Market Street Home Sweet Home stamp set. I stamped the surburbanite looking home and colored up with Copics. I stamped the shrubbery separately and after coloring and fussy cutting out, added to the scene adhering with pop dots for dimension. Lots of layers comprised of the My Mind's Eye Collectable Remarkable 6x6 pad which includes the more traditional colors of our lives.

Products: Market Street Stamps, My Mind's Eye dp, American Crafts ribbon, PTI felt and button, Kaisercraft pearls, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: Y0000, YR30, YR31, Y11, C0, C1, C3, R32, R35, R56, W00, E81; Shrubs-G40, G43, G46; Shadows-BG70, BG0000

Thank you for stopping by. Have a great weekend.

My sale page.
 

Happy Birthday Camper

I have a masculine card to show you today that I made it for one of my husband's best friend's birthday recently. He is on his second career after some setbacks. Since he has always been a fabulous cook he decided to become his own employer by purchasing and running a food truck which he parks at a nearby university. The camper image from the Market Street Gone Campin' set reminded me of his set up so I decided to feature it on his card. After stamping the image, I cut it out with a Spellbinders Nestie and then colored with Copic Markers. I kept things rather simple with the sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas Simply Said set stamped directly onto the background panel and then added a couple of buttons as embellishments.The paper is all from the Studio Calico Here and There pad.

Products: Market Street stamp, The Cat's Pajamas sentiment stamp, Studio Calico dp, PTI buttons, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: Camper-C00, C1, C3, C5, B0000, B000, B01, YR20, YR01, YR12, B41, B32, B93, N1, N3, N5, N7; Pavement-C1, C3, C5; Shadows-W00, E81

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a fabulous weekend.

You're Someone Special

The word of the day is "new". Because there are several new things I used on this card.

First of all, I was so excited to receive the new Lucy's Crab Shack pad from Bazzill Basics that I went in search of a stamp to use it with immediately. Scrapbookers will probably remember Sweetwater which was a favorite of mine back in the day. The company transitioned over to fabric designing and left the paper world behind. Until now that is - in partnership with Bazzill. The mermaid image in the Market Street Dreaming of the Sea stamp set had not seen any ink so I paired her with this fab paper. It's a fairly new stamp set as well.

The third new item you will note is that I am trying out the Spectrum Noir markers. I still love my Copics and will probably never give them up especially since I have heavily invested in them.  I have never paid full price for a Copic marker or refill bottle but even at an average of $5 for the maker and another $6 for the refill, that is a $11 investment in just one color. It has become really hard for me to justify that kind of money. So I am sticking my toe in the Spectrum Noir world. And I am not even sure it's a full toe since as of right now I only have one of the 6 pack basics (pinks).  We shall see.

So on to the details of this card. I stamped the mermaid and the fishes onto Copics X-Press It cardstock and then cut out with Spellbinders Nestabilities allowing one of the tail fins to fall out of the box. I colored the images with mostly Copic markers and a bit with Spectrum Noirs. The flower was cut with the My Favorite Things Prima Donna Petals Die-namics. The C.C. Designs sentiment was stamped directly onto the background panel with Ranger Archival ink and I added some jewels to finish it up.  

Products: Market Street Stamps, C.C. Designs stamp, Bazzill Basics dp, TPC and Kaisercraft jewels, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Spectrum Noir and Copic Markers
Copics: Skin-E0000, E000, E11, R20; Hair-E50, E51, E53; Mermaid Clothing/Fish-BG0000, BG000, BG01, YR12, YR14, YR02, 0
Spectrum Noir: ShellsFish-PP3, PP5, DR3

I'll have another project tomorrow using the more nautical themed papers from this same pad. Thanks so much for stopping by!
My sale page.

You've Got Mail

Good morning. I've been busy with some design team assignments but I wanted to show you a card I actually made a couple of weeks ago using the Market Street Home Sweet Home set. This is the third card from that group.

I combined the mailbox, bird and tiny envie for the main image. I added several die-cuts including the notebook paper cut with The Cat's Pajamas Toppers CutUps and a couple of MFT Die-namics to cut the postage stamp border and the envelope. The sentiment came from an MFT stamp set and I bought the postal washi tape from an Etsy shop. Fun and easy to make.

Products: Market Street stamps, Lily Bee dp, The Cat's Pajamas CutUps, My Favorite Things Die-namics and Button,  Copic Markers
Copics: C1, C3, C5, R22, R24, R27, E81, B41, B32, YG91, YG93; Shadows-BG0000, E50

Have a great week. 

My sale page. 

Home and Heart

It is March already and I couldn't be more excited at the thought of spring just around the corner!

I've been seeing lots of well done CAS cards in my reader lately (there seems to be a class going on?) and I wanted to give it a try. Normally I like lots of layers but I resisted that this time although I did double mat my stamped image. Baby steps, right? I am also slowly coming to realization that I don't always have to color my images. WHAT?! My fellow Cat Pack teammate  Jen has some really good examples of that on her blog. This is my second project featuring the Market Street Home Sweet Home stamp set which you can see I only colored the window and chimney. A couple of fishtail banner strips in bold colors which I wrapped around to the back of the panel, a buttoned up felt heart, a tiny pearl doorknob and the sentiment stamped directly onto the background panel completed the look. Or so I thought. After staring at it for a while thinking that it needed something else, I decided to round all four corners with my WRMK corner chomper. The paper is from American Crafts Soho Garden which has quickly become a favorite 6x6 pad. I used it a lot on my Sweet November previews which start tomorrow!!

Products: Market Street Stamps, American Crafts dp, Kaisercraft pearl, PTI felt and button, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: RV11, RV13, RV14, RV17

What do you think about my CAS attempt?

My sale page.

Home Sweet Home

I wanted this Market Street Home Sweet Home stamp set for a long time and finally bought it at the end of year sale. Unfortunately it's been languishing in my not-yet-stamped box since but I've made up for it in a big way. I actually have five cards completed with this set although I'm featuring only one of them today.

I stamped the cottage, fence, shrubbery, hearts coming out of the chimney and the clouds and then cut the image out with My Favorite Things Labels 1 Stax. I stamped the tree separately and fussy cut out after coloring. After coloring the main image, I then positioned the tree in the scene placing it on pop dots for more dimension. All the paper came from the Pebbles Walnut Grove 6x6 pad.

Products: Market Street Stamps, Pebbles dp, PTI button, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Copic Markers
Copics: House-W00, E81, BG11, BG23, BG34, Y21, Y23, Y35, R22, R24, R46; Tree/Shubbery-YG01, YG61, YG63, E31, E335, E39; Tire Swing-C1, C3, C5; Shadows-BG70, BG0000

Have a great week. 

My sale page.

You Put the Wind in My Sails

Today's card features the new Market Street Dreaming of the Sea stamp set. I wanted this set enough to dip into my very small February crafty budget for it. It also represents one of my goals this year to expand my stamp company horizons. I combined three images from the set with a piece cut with the My Favorite Things Peek-a-Boo Squared Die-namics. I've had this for a while now but never managed to use before. For the fourth spotlight I cut a shell from the My Favorite Things Sea Charms Die-namics, attaching with a brass brad. I placed a pot dot underneath it to give it some dimension. The images and sentiment were stamped with Memento Paris Dusk and Rangers Archival Vermillion inks. The bottom border was cut with the Taylored Expressions Wave Border die. All the paper came from the Authentique Glory 6x6 pad. I generally followed this week's Deconstructed Sketch (DS89) for the layout.

Products: Market Street Stamps, Authentique dp, PTI buttons, Taylored Expressions die, My Favorite Things Die-namics and button, The Cat's Pajamas CutUps, Ranger and Memento inks

Have a good day.

My sale page.