TV Show Inspired

Martha Stewart makes some of the coolest punches!! And my dad, who loves to watch cooking shows on TV and then test out what he's learned in the kitchen (yummy!!) watches Martha and is always telling me something he learned or how Martha does it. Personally, I actually never get to watch her show and probably wouldn't much if I had the chance...too many other things to do! Like give all those awesome paper punches a workout!! Anyway....about the card!
The theme for cards this week over at Totally Stampalicious is to make it TV/movie related. This image created by Jodie Mackrell of Bugaboo digis is available as an acrylic stamp through Totally Stampalicious.
I used a Mojo Monday sketch for the layout. The red and white checked background was made by decoupaging a paper napkin onto a piece of white card stock. Image is colored with Copic markers. The rest of the papers are SU! dsp scraps. I made the large scallop circle with a sizzix die.
Happy Memorial Day to all!! Hope it includes at least a little stamping for you!

Princess Easel

I added another Magnolia image to my collection the other night. Love this little princess holding a frog. I colored her up with Copic markers and sponged around the background with a little Creamy Caramel ink. There's lots of Stickles on her wings and the flowers in her hair. I used a large scallop nestabilities die to cut the shape around her and cut a chocolate chip layer around her free hand. I waited to long to get the nesting layers for the smaller set of nesties :0(  Besideds the chocolate chip card stock, I used Basic Gray's Kioshi papers to make my layers and background. A layer of Cameo Coral in the punched border added a little punch of color to the background. All the punched borders and corners are by Martha Stewart. Added little pearl accents here and there. The leaves are made with a punch by EK Success and the little flowers are from my meager stash of Magnolia flowers, another recent addition to the line available at Priceless Scrapbooks, the LSS. Of course, I had to make it into an easel card. I used a sentiment from Totally Stampalicious to finish it off. This will be for a dear friend who has a birthday next week. Here is a shot of the inside...

Thanks for stopping in. I hope you are having a great holiday weekend!!

Totally Stampalicious Masculine Challenge

The challenge at Totally Stampalicious this week is to make a masculine card. Well, it's a youthful masculine card anyway. I used Sean, one of the recently released images that was originally a Bugaboo digi that is now available as an acrylic stamp from TS. I used some sparkly red, white, and blue striped paper for the background and added a bunch of punched stars around the image. I used the Sizzix bigz scallop square die to make the card base. Image layer is colored with Copic markers and popped up on dimensionals.
This image makes me laugh whenever I see it because it reminds me of my granddaughter. How, you ask? Well, for some silly reason that is unknown to anyone, now that my granddaughter has finally come up with what she is going to call me, she has tagged me "Sean". There is no one in our family named Sean and we have no idea where she got this. No matter how much my son and his wife have tried to correct her, she persists with the name. I don't mind the name and have accepted it as my new moniker.
Thanks for stopping in today. Be sure to stop over at the TS blog after you have made your masculine card for the challenge and post your link. They always have some cool prize up for grabs!

I'm so excited!!

What am I so excited about? It's almost summer vacation. Don't get me wrong....I love my job! But I really am looking forward to a little relaxation and rejuvenation! I have so many things that need to be done around the house and there never seems to be enough time to take care of it all!
Here is a card I made a few weeks ago using Scarlette -  I'm So Excited. The image is part of set from Totally Stampalicious that uses an image from Jodie Mackrell. This image was previously only available as a digital image, but is now available from TS as an acrylic stamp.

Photo Corner Flower

This week's challenge at Totally Stampalicious is to use photo corners on your project. I had an idea about using them to make a flower, but when I went to find the package of premade ones that I know I have somewhere, I was unable to find them. So, not to be stopped from completing my project, I got out the photo corner punch and started messing around with them and some patterned paper scraps I had laying around from a previous project. It sure doesn't look like what I was seeing in my head originally! I was watching Cinderella with my granddaughter while I was making my flower, so if you have ever seen the Disnery movie, you can probably imagine why my flower ended up attached to this mouse image!
The mouse image is from Totally Stampalicious and is one of their most recent releases. I colored him with Copic markers and added just a touch of stickles to his nose, the heart on his little bottom, and around the tips of the flower. I used a build a brad as the center of the flower. To make the flower I just punched a bunch of photo corners in both sizes and folded them in half and glued them down to a punched circle. I folded the tip just a little to make the corners stand up. When all the petals were added the center was in place, I scrunched all of the petals toward the center of the flower.
I'm pretty sure the name of the dsp is Raspberry Tart, retired SU! Card stock is pretty in pink and purely pomegranate. Thanks for stopping in and be sure to check out the TS blog to see what prize they are giving away this week to one lucky challenge participant!

The Shopping Queen

I used this new Lorali shopper stamp to make my card for the Queen for the Day challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. This week's queen is Linda aka Hotwheels. I cased a card that she had done with a shopping theme. For my card, I used groovy guava and chocolate chip cardstock and SEI dsp. I used some of the dsp for paper piecing and Copic markers for the rest of my coloring. Added some tiny half pearls here and there and a big chocolate ribbon. The corner and border punches for the frame are by Martha Stewart.

My first Luigi!

I just love this chef image!! I have been wanting to get him for such a long time and I was finally lucky enough to find him in stock when I was shopping on line...and they only had one left! Into the shopping cart he went!!
I had some of the decoupaged napkin left from my son's Father's Day card, so I used a square punch to use the scraps to make a background for my card along with some scraps of the black and white specialty paper that SU! had last fall. I used watercolor crayons to color him so he is not as vibrant as I am used to images being. The sentiment came from a sticker set that goes with some papers from Reminisce that I have had for years and never used. You know that if you use it up, you don't have it anymore, and so....I hoard! I'll be using this image many more times in the future!! Thanks for stopping in!!

Frog in a boot

This is another of the cards I made this past weekend using brand new rubber and papers. The image is from Great Impressions. I picked it up at the LSS, Priceless Scrapbooks, while I was at the Friday night crop. The papers are new Basic Gray dsp, Capella. I left my Copics at home Friday night and forced myself to use my watercolor crayons as they have been so neglected lately. They really aren't as vibrant as the Copic's and I won't be leaving them at home anymore! I still love the crayons, but for this image, I think the Copics would have looked better.
The flowers I used are super simple to make. I read about how to make them on a blog just last week. They are made using a scallop circle plunch, a paper crimper, and a brad....to easy. Just punch out three of the scalloped circles from regular card stock and run them through the crimper. Then squish up the scalloped circles. This breaks down the fibers of the card stock. Open the circles up again and as you do, you should see that the edges are starting to separate into layers. Pull apart into two layers on each of the circles. Stack them up, punch a hole in the centers and add a brad to hold them together. Then squish the layers up around the brad, one layer at a time. Fiddle with it and fluff it until you get the look you want. For the flowers on this card, I used white card stock and sponged the edges with a plum-colored ink. They look like colored carnations you would get from the florist!

Totally Stampalicious Sketch Challenge

I'm sooooo excited!!! As promised, the Capella papers from Basic Gray arrived at the LSS in time for the Friday crop!! I love these papers...the colors are beautiful and I love the vintage feel that is so perfect for a wedding, but so many other occasions, too!! I used them on my card for this week's sketch challenge over on the Totally Stampalicious blog. They are doing something really fun with the challenge this week! The prize they are giving away grows for every ten participants in the challenge!! The more that play, the bigger the prize!! The sketch and details about the prize can be found on the TS blog.
I used one of the new TS images from Bugaboo artist Jodie Mackrell! Isn't he the cutest??? He is called Fat Mouse with Flower. I colored him with watercolor crayons for a change and added stickles to the flowre and the little heart on his hiney. I used Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, and Always Artichoke card stock to mat the dsp. The lacey trim is a sticker border that is part of the Capella line of papers. Added tiny half pearls to some of the layers.

Another Father's Day card on Mother's Day

I really love this new character from Mo Manning! Big Guy is perfect for my Daddy (known as Big Ed) and for my son who is not nearly as big, but sure seems big to me! It's hard to believe that the tiny baby I gave birth to grew into such a big person!
Anyway, This Big Guy image is busy picking his tomatoes.....perfect for Daddy! My father has always loved farming, and while he cannot grow a big garden anymore, he still grows an assortment of tomatoes, peppers, and so on every year. I think he'll enjoy this card. He loves his tractor, too! Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Father's Day....a little early

Since I don't have my mom here with me anymore to make Mother's Day cards for, I get through this holiday by making my Father's Day cards early. I do have a card to give my DIL tomorrow, but I haven't taken a picture of it yet. This is the card I made for my son when Father's Day finally rolls around. As the sentiment says, this card really was made just for him! He loves cooking out on the grill and does so at every opportunity, so the king of the grill image is perfect for him. This cute digital image is from Mo's Digital Pencil and is one of several Big Guy images she has recently released...love 'em all!!! The shorts, flip flops and puffed chest are all perfect for him. I even gave him a Bucs hat! The background was made by using Mod Podge to adhere a paper dinner napkin to a piece of cardstock....a fun technique that makes for some very interesting backgrounds or even focal images.
The image was colored with Copic markers. I will be taking an intermediate class on coloring with Copics in a couple of weeks and hope to learn a few tricks to help me get  better at coloring with this medium I am totally addicted to. I know I also need to practice and with summer fast approaching, I hope to be able to do just that!!
Thanks for stopping in and I'd like to wish all the moms out there a fabulous Mother's Day! I will be spending mine with my little granddaughter who is napping right now and getting all charged up for a fun evening bouncing on me and BoBo (her grandpa). Can't wait!!!

Hillbilly Side Step (not a dance)

I made this at last weekend's 2 day crop at Priceless Scrapbooks...what a blast that was! I had this little hillbilly image all colored up and in my stash. One of my stampin' sistahs had a set of Art Impressions stamps that included this cute old cabin and clothesline. I would have like the clothesline to be the image farther in the background, but as is was larger than the cabin, perspective forced me to put it in the front. Still pretty cute, I think! All images are colored with Copic markers. Clouds were sponged. MS punches provided the grass and fence at the base of each layer. You can see the fence a little better in this angled shot:

Well, I'm off to work...just a quick post for some of the girls who were at my stair step card class the other day. It's been a crazy week!!! Have a wonderful day that hopefully includes at least a little stamping!!

Totally Stampalicious Monday Challenge: April Showers/May Flowers

I went for the May flowers on my card for this week's challenge over on the Totally Stampalicious blog. I used one of the new images from Jodie Mackrell and Bugaboo Stamps. These cute images were previously only available as digital images, but TS and Bugaboo have teamed up to make eight of these super cute images available in polymer acrylic! This one is called Desiree....isn't she cute?

My card base is Rich Razzleberry and the layers are Melon Mambo!!! I'm so glad SU!! has decided to keep these colors in their line up!! The dsp is Green at Heart by Basic Gray...lots more flowers there! I used Copic markers to color my image and added a bit of lacey trim and a small bow to separate the layers of dsp.
I saw a tutorial Friday morning to make dimensional flowers with card stock, a scallop punch, and a paper crimper. Super easy and I used just a small circle punch to make the flower I added to this card! I made like a hundred of these flowers this weekend only much bigger! Just didn't look right on this card, so I tried a small circle instead. I needed a smaller brad, but with everything all packed up from a two-day crop, I just couldn't put my hands on them.
Here's a shot of the inside....I actually finished the inside while making the card. It's something I rarely do because I like to save that part of the job until I know what I will use the card for.

You can join in on the challenge this week. Just make a card that features either April showers or May flowers, and then add it to the Totally Stampalicious blog using the Mr. Linky tool on the challenge post. They alwasys offer a great prize each week. Thanks for stopping in today!! Have a wonderful week!!

Honoring Queen Carol

The Queen for the Day over at Splitcoast Stampers this week was Carol_PA925. I have so many of her cards bookmarked in my favorites on that site and considered doing one as a case in her honor, but I really needed a grad card for a dear friend's daughter, so I chose another card entirely. This is what I ended up with. The image is a digi from Pink Cat Studio. They have a matching boy image that is just as cute. Colored my little grad with Copic markers, though I didn't go for a lot of shading and blending with this image. The dsp is by Reminisce. I love all the swirls, shimmer and glitter on these papers. The 2010 is a piece of one of the papers, though I'm not sure if it is from the same manufacturer.  The little starts and Way to Go are bubbly stickers. Added some brads down the side. Got some other cards done at the 2-day crop besides this one. I have lots to share this week! Thanks for stopping in!