The Pink Elephant Challenge #34

Its time again for another fun challenge at The Pink Elephant!

This week, we are asking you to create a project using something with dots, punches and a tag.

Our sponsor this week is Your Next Stamp. They generously gave each of the dt members a stamp set to play with. These stamps are a very nice quality and come pre-trimmed and ready to stamp with. I really liked how crisp the stamped image was!  I just LOVE the Shopper Fhiona set. Can she be ANY cuter?? When I saw this, I just had to use some pp that I have been hoarding for a few months now. It has adorable little shopping bags all over it.

At first, I was trying to decide how on earth I was going to add dots to this. But, then I realized that I had A LOT of dots! The Swiss Dots folder, dots in the scallops, the ribbon, her headband and the background stamp on the sentiment. So, I am good, I think. lol The punch I used was Treading Water border punch and the tag is a Spellbinders die that I added a brad and ribbon to and made it tag-like (hope that counts!). Image is colored with Prismas and Gamsol.I added Stickles to her shopping bag, purse and headband dots.

Materials: PAPER-Colormates (WorldWin Papers), shopping bag pp STAMPS-Shopper Fhiona (Your Next Stamp) INK-Versafine Onyx Black, Versamagic Purple (Tsukineko) OTHER-Prismacolor Pencils/Gamsol, Nestabilities-circle, scalloped circle, labels trio (Spellbinders), Stickles, Swiss Dots embossing folder, Threading Water border punch (Fiskars), ribbon, brad

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the other fabulous designers did over at TPE!

A special thanks to Your Next Stamp for their generosity!!

Homecoming 2009

Shelby went to the big game on Friday (our team won! YAY) and then the homecoming dance on Saturday. I can't believe my little girl is slowly becoming a woman!! She looked so pretty when she got all ready for the dance last night. Here is a picture of her and her 'date', Mitch.

They really weren't into me taking a ton of pictures...but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do, right? lol

Shelby's dress was a little 'wild' for me, but she loved it and their homecoming WAS a jungle theme, so I guess it fit well! lol They were absolutely adorable trying to give each other their flowers! They didn't have a clue what to do. Finally, John put Mitch's rose on him and Shelby just grabbed her corsage and slipped it on her wrist. The corsage he got for her was soooooo pretty.

It is just so hard for me to believe that this beauty was once a 4 1/2 pound baby!!! Sigh....

Crazy 4 Challenges #4

We are on week 4 at Crazy4Challenges and we are all having a blast!

Thank you so much to all of our participants. We are so happy to see that you are enjoying the challenges!
This week, we have another awesome sketch from Cindy Haffner. She can create a sketch like no other!!My card doesn't look nearly as nice in the picture as it does in real life. I hate not being able to capture the glitter on camera!! This card uses one of my favorite techs with embossing folders. I absolutely LOVE to ink the side of the folder that does the background or indented part for the embossing (does that make any sense??) with Versamark and emboss with glitter ep. When done, you have the background all sparkly and the raised areas are plain and it looks so cool. It can be elegant or whimsical depending on how you use it. For this card, I embossed both the white and black panels with the Textile folder and glitter embossing powder...it looks so elegant irl. Sadly, in the picture, it looks quite blah :( I also love the look of a black and white card. It sometimes, we just don't need alot of color! lol
Materials: PAPER-Colormates (WorldWin Papers), STAMPS-Heidi Grace (Fiskars), INK-Versamark (Tsukineko), OTHER-Textile embossing folder (ProvoCraft), Glitter embossing powder, Black detail embossing powder, White satin ribbon
Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the other C4C designers did with Cindy's sketch this week!!

Playing today

and I needed to make a couple of cards. One is for an upcoming challenge, so you won't be able to see that one until Saturday. But, the other one is for my nephew whose birthday is this Saturday. I have such a hard time coming up with ideas for teen boys' cards!! Why are they so difficult?

I am absolutely NOT going to claim that this was my original idea. I wish I could tell you whose idea it was though! I saw it on someone's blog a few weeks ago and stored it in my mind as a great idea for my nephew's card. I honestly would have never thought of using the tiny bubbles (I don't know if that is what the OP used or not...but it looked like it would work for a football!) for the texture of a football and adding the laces. It looked so cool and I just had to do it for this card. It is a VERY simple card since it is for a teen boy. I didn't think he would like all the fru-fru.
Materials: PAPER-Bazzill cardstock, STAMPS-Melissa Frances, INK-Memories Chestnut Brown (Stewart Superior), OTHER-Tiny Bubbles embossing folder (ProvoCraft), cream satin ribbon, awl, brass brads

Oh wait....I just remembered where I saw the idea for a football. It was on this post on the Club Anya blog. Airforcemommy created a card with the football as a background. But, I see now that she used the Swiss Dots folder which looks super cool too!! Told ya I was working from memory on the card!

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a creatively wonderful rest of the week!

The Pink Elephant Challenge #33

Hey Pink Elephant fans!

Did ya miss me? I took a small hiatus from the challenges (not intentionally...life just got in the way!) but I am back and ready to play along again!

This week at The Pink Elephant we have a sketch challenge for you:

And here's my interpretation:

I recently bought my first Stamping Bella stamps (I know...shocking that I didn't own any...where have I been? Living under a rock?!?! lol) and just adored this sentiment when I saw it. So, I hunted down a knitting Bella image so I could buy the sentiment. It just makes me laugh! I colored knitting Bella with Copics. I have discovered that 40+ colors is NOT enough and that is why I get frustrated. I need MORE! lol Its a pretty straightforward card that doesn't need much explanation.
Materials: STAMPS-Knitting Bella, Knit Happens sentiment (Stamping Bella), INK-Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), PAPER-Cascasta & Colormates (WorldWin Papers), Fun In The Sun glitter cardstock (DCWV) OTHER-Copic Markers, Nestabilities Labels (Spellbinders), Rain Drops (Cloud9), Red grosgrain ribbon, foam tape

Thanks so much for stopping by. Don't forget to head over to TPE and see what the other fabulous designers did with this sketch!
Have a creatively wonderful week!

Crazy 4 Challenges #3

Wow!! We are all amazed by the amount of participants we are getting on Crazy4Challenges!

So happy to see that you are enjoying them and want to play along.
This week, we have another fabulous sketch from Cindy Haffner. I just love sketches and she makes really fun ones to work with!
My challenge card is quite simple this week. I wanted the focus to be on these super sweet BFFbugs from Stamping Bella. Aren't they the sweetest?? I colored them with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol and then added Stickles to their wings and hearts. Cut the two panels out with Nestabilities. I added a bow in place of the three dots on the sketch, but at least this week my card LOOKS like the sketch!! lol
Materials: STAMPS-BFFBugs (Stamping Bella) INK-Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko) PAPER: Cardstock (WorldWin Papers), Fun In The Sun Glitter cardstock (DCWV) OTHER: Nestabilities-Labels One (Spellbinders), Prismacolor Pencils/Gamsol, Yellow satin ribbon, Stickles Crystal glitter glue

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the other incredible C4C designers did with the sketch this week!

Live....

It's Wednesday and that means its time to share another Artistic Outpost creation!
This is another ATC I made using stamps from The Old Grist Mill plate. These stamps are so versatile! I just simply stamped the leaf on textured cardstock with Brilliance ink (sadly, you can't see the shimmer) and then I stamped the text repeatedly at an angle across the entire panel. The green leaves were stamped and cut out. I wrinkled them up a bit and attached them to the ATC with foam tape for dimension. The 'Live' is part of one of the sentiment stamps. I just put tape on the parts I didn't want to use, inked, removed tape and stamped using my stamp positioner. Super simple, but I thought it came out really nice.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a creatively wonderful rest of your week!

Robin-ology

***second post for today...scroll down to see my C4C challenge***

I Saw this on Tina's blog and decided to play along!

***********FOODOLOGY***************

What is your salad dressing of choice?
French

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Don't really have a favorite....maybe Alfie's since I LOVE their chicken parmesan!

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
I don't think I could eat anything for 2 weeks and not get sick of it...

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
buffalo chicken and cheese...unless you mean a normal pizza and then it would just be cheese and pepperoni

What do you like to put on your toast?
butter

***********TECHNOLOGY***************

How many televisions are in your house?
3

What color is your cellphone?
pink...can't wait for the new contract to get a red one, I am allllllllll about red gadgets right now!

Do you have an iPod?
yep, we all have them...we love our music!

***************BIOLOGY******************

Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
nope

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
a stove that we had to buy a couple weeks ago

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No.
************BULLOLOGY**************

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
absolutely NOT

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
never thought about it, but I do love unique names, so it wouldn't be a common one if I did

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000?
I think I would and I can't tolerate hot sauce, but it would only hurt for a little while, right?
**************FAVORITOLOGY****************

Season?
Fall & Spring.

Holiday?
Halloween

Day of the week?
Sunday (now that I am working, it is my only guaranteed day off! lol)

Month?
October
***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************

Missing someone?
everyday....

Mood?
happy

What are you listening to?
silence

Current worry?
am not really worried about anything at the moment...
***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************

First place you went this morning
bathroom

What’s the last movie you saw?
been a while since I watched a movie....
***************OTHER-OLOGY*****************

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
9 I think. I LOVE flip flops!

Last time you had a run-in with the cops
never

Last person you talked to?
Shelby

Last person you hugged?
John

Do you always answer your phone?
yep

It’s four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
I would think a family member with an emergency and it wouldn't be good news :(

If you could change your eye color what would it be?
I love my brown eyes, but green would be fun sometimes

What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic
never been to Sonic

Do you own a digital camera?
Yes.

Have you ever had a pet fish?
yes, many times over the years

Favorite Christmas song(s)
don't know....not really a Christmas song kind of girl

What’s on your wish list for your birthday
supper made, house clean, laundry done...

Can you do push ups?
um...nope

Can you do a split?
not anymore

Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
I guess excited....not nervous at all

Do you have any saved texts?
no, I don't text, I would rather talk

Have you ever been in a car accident?
no

Do you have an accent?
only to people who don't live in NW Pennsylvania!

What is the last movie to make you cry?
I don't know....but I cry pretty easily during movies

Plans tonight?
watching movies with John all evening

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Sure have, but have come back up to the surface with some hard work

Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
groceries, can of ice tea, gas

Have you ever been given roses?
yes, but I am with Tina and prefer wildflowers picked by the girls or John

Met someone who changed your life?
yes, quite a few different people have touched my life in a special way

How will you bring in the New Year?
probably at home with the girls and John like I always do....nothing exciting

What song represents you?
I don't know...there are soooooooooo many songs that I relate to

Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
absolutely...would love to go back and do alot of things differently in my teen years. And I would give anything to go back and spend some more quality time with my mom since I lost her so early

Do you have any tattoos/piercings?
yep....one tattoo and my ears are pierced multiple times. I really regret the tattoo though! No body piercings. There is a reason they are called EARrings! lol

Does anyone love you?
YES!

Would you be a pirate?
No.

What songs do you sing in the shower?’
usually the most recent songs on the radio. I get them in my head and can't get them out! lol

Ever had someone sing to you?
Yes, my mom used to always sing me lullabies at naptime and I loved it!

Do you like to cuddle?
Yes, yes, yes.

Have you held hands with anyone today?
yep...John and I hold hands most of the time

Who was the last person you took a picture of?
my girls on their first day of school

Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
I would have to say new.

Do you like pulpy orange juice?
Yes.

What is something your friends make fun of you for?
would definitely be my height. I am the butt of all jokes for being such a shortie. But I don't mind at all. I can't get taller!!! lol

Crazy 4 Challenges #2

It's time for another super fun challenge at Crazy4Challenges!
A very special thanks to those that played along with us on our very first challenge. The response was overwhelming! We are all so happy to see that you enjoy playing along with us!

This week, we are all honored to work with another of Cindy Haffner's awesome sketches.
No...really, I DID work with the sketch, it just strayed off at some point in the middle of creating!

Normally, I am such a stickler for following a sketch as closely as possible. I may turn the sketch of flip it, but my cards usually look like the sketch when done. This time, not so much! I originally was only going to change the squares to rectangles....see the 4 panels in the background? They're there...I promise! And then, I was going to make the main panel a rectangle. I did all of that, but then I didn't like the girl (who by the way is another byLoriDesigns fab drawing that will hopefully be a digi image soon!) in the center. So, I shifted her to the side, added a ribbon, sentiment and bride's flowers colored with Copics and it ended up not looking much like the sketch. I am really happy with the card...I just hate that it doesn't look much like the sketch.

Materials: STAMPS- Teen Girl digi (byLoriDesigns), sentiment (PSX) INK-Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), Copic Markers PAPER-Colormates & Cascata (WorldWin Papers) OTHER-Bloom Dots embossing folder (ProvoCraft), Ribbon, Bride's Flowers, Rhinestones (colored black with Copic Markers), Foam Tape

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to drop in at C4C to see what my fellow designers did with Cindy's sketch! You won't be disappointed!

Artistic Outpost - The Outpost

***be sure to scroll down to the next post to see the card I made using soon to be released digi images!!***

Here's another card made using stamps from the new releases at Artistic Outpost. I am truly loving these stamps and I hope you are too!! This card was made using The Outpost stamps. They are the coolest images ever! You just have to get yourself this set!

I wanted to be sure to keep the image the focal again, so I just placed it on a Cuttlebugged white card. I think it showcases the image nicely. I painted the main image with Twinkling H2Os and left a white border around it to be like a photograph. I just love doing that with the AO images of homes and barns! I mounted it using photo corners and then added the sentiment. Very simple, but I think it is a very pretty card.
Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a creatively wonderful rest of your week!

Introducing Little Witch

I am so excited to say that my friend Lori is FINALLY seriously considering the idea of creating her own line of digi stamps. I am HUGE fan of her images. I think they are soooooo cute and I have wanted her to make them digital FOREVER!! I am hoping that this little witch image will be released so everyone can enjoy her. I am having so much fun playing around with her people and once they are available, I am sure you will too!!

The background is fabric that I adhered to chipboard to create a Halloween background. The little witch is colored with Copics. I am starting to like these a little better each time I use them! I added Stickles to her hat, belt, shoes and broom. The sentiment is done with JustRite Stamps and I added Stickles to the border. This was fun to make...thanks to Lori drawing such super cute images!!!

Thanks for stopping by!! Be sure to head over to Lori's blog and snag a super cute freebie that she has available for a limited time....

AO Release day ???

Okay, so I totally dropped the ball on sharing a sample for the new Artistic Outpost plate release. There are just not enough hours in the day for me to get to everything I need to. I had a CRAZY end of the week at work and then didn't want to even look at a computer when I came home. Then, yesterday, we went to the coolest Native American festival evah! We had so much fun and it was nice to have a family day learning about nature, wildlife and tradition.

Okay enough excuses...I need to show you some samples that I made using the new plates. I just LOVE these stamps!!! I am going to share another sample (actually two today) made using the Old Grist Mill plate. This plate is so gorgeous!! Here are a couple of ATCs I made using the smaller stamps from the plate:

This first one is super simple. Just stamped the leaf in 3 colors of Adirondack ink, inked the edges and then put the sentiment on a Spellbinders label. I pulled out my neglected (outdated??I think not!) fibers to add a warm, fall feel to the ATC.

I think this flower is super pretty and I wanted to make an ATC with brighter colors to show that, although the stamps all have a vintage feel, they CAN be used in brighter art. I did the background with 3 shades of purple Ranger inks for a monochromatic feel. I wrapped the green ribbon around the ATC (I love green and purple together!) and finished off the back by mounting onto another ATC sized piece of cardstock. Then, I stamped the flower again twice, cut out and curled the petals. I mounted them together, offset of each other on foam tape to add dimension over the ribbon. Again, a super simple project, but I thought it came out very pretty!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by...have a creatively wonderful weekend!

Crazy 4 Challenges!!!

Silly me...I got up this morning and saw that my post didn't post...I had it set to go TONIGHT at midnight. Sorry for the delay!! Here is the post in its entirety:

Hi everyone! I am so excited to announce that there is a new challenge blog! Crazy 4 Challenges is a fabulous blog filled with SUPER talent. I am so amazed that I was asked to be a part of this team...I am so not worthy!! We will have a new challenge every Saturday. This month, our challenges are hosted by Cindy Haffner and she is sharing an amazing sketch with us.

Here is my interpretation of it:
I really love these new little monster stamps I recently bought and finally got a chance to ink one up. I colored him with Copics. I cut out his head and layered it with foam tape for dimension. The pp is from the same company (Daisy Bucket) and is meant to coordinate with the monsters. I thought it would be cute to have this "mean" monster busting through the paper to frighten the recipient. lol I am so giving this to my oldest daughter when she is having a teenager day and needs to snap out of it!!

Thanks so much for stopping! Be sure to drop by C4C and see what the other fabulous designers did this week.

AO Release day 4

Hi guys! I'm back with another sample using stamps from The Outpost plate from Artistic Outpost.

I am such a lover of pop art and grabbing one stamp and 4 bright colors is such a fun thing for me to do sometimes. I saw this small square stamp with the Outpost on it and just HAD to Warhol it!I stamped and embossed the image 4 times and put them all on a black square of card. This panel is popped up from the background. Pretty simple and doesn't need explanation. lol
The 'home' is done with my traditional label maker and black label tape. Just a super fun
way to use these stamps..
Thanks so much for stopping by. I will have another AO sample for you tomorrow!

Artistic Outpost Blog Hop!!

I just love participating in blog hops!! And this one that is being held to celebrate the release of 3 new plates at Artistic Outpost is no exception!

This is one of my favorite samples from The Old Grist Mill plate: I painted the scene with Twinkling H2Os and added details with a white gel pen. The rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory. I just love the rugged feel of this card and the image is so pretty!!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Be sure to visit all of the other AO designers to see what they did with these fabulous stamps!

• Lisa Somerville
• Gerrie Johnnic
• Kelly Burton
• Cathy Edgar
• Debby Boltman
• Judy Hayes
• Lynn Stevens
• Robin Willis
• Sharon Briss
• Susan Conrad
• Toni Tessler