Dirty Cupcakes

Well, that doesn't sound very appetizing, does it? But the challenge is! It's Taylor's Dare to Get Dirty Challenge for today and we had to use....cupcakes in our card (of course because Taylor is all about cupcakes)! I pulled out all the cupcake stuff I had (which was surprisingly a lot). I ended up with this design because of the ribbon. That was my inspiration today. I matched up this patterned paper from Basic Grey's Cupcake and the pink pirouette and riding hood red from SU. The big cupcake, from Inkadinkadoo, was colored with copic markers. The pink frosting was stamped on scrap, colored and cut out. I didn't put it on dimensionals, but paper pieced it because it gave it more dimension. The jimmies were colored with copics, then I went over them with Spica glitter pens. The "Enjoy Your Day" image from Riveting was altered in the middle with the cupcake from Short and Sweet. I just stamped it on scrap, punched it with the 3/4" punch, and put it up on a dimensional. I added dew drops (again!) to that image and in each corner of the card (love them!). I used Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday #46 sketch (I thought it was this week's sketch, but it was from a couple of weeks ago!). I think this is a cute "girlie" birthday card. I only wish the cucakes on the ribbon were going in the other direction! Oh well, thanks for lookin'!

Recipe

Stamps: Inkadinkadoo Birthday Cupcake, SU Riveting and Short and Sweet

Paper: Pink pirouette, riding hood red, white, Basic Grey Cupcake

Ink: Adirondack black, copic markers

Accessories: Michael's ribbon, Nestabilities, dew drops, dimensionals, circle punches, ticket corner punch

Dare to Get Dirty?

Yes, you can Dare to Get Dirty if you are an SCS Fan Club Member. There is a whole other part of SCS for Fan Club Members that is fabulous! Just another perk for being an SCS member. All this week, the "Dirty Girls" are putting out challenges. Holly, aka Toy (who happens to live about 3 miles from me), put out this sketch challenge. If you are a Fan Club member, you can find it here. I loved this sketch and started this card at 1:00 AM! I was busy all day, and finally got a chance to look at the challenge! Crazy, I know, but when I get my second wind, I could stay up all night (night owl, I guess!).

Back to the card. I had to find an image small enough to fit this oval. I was bummed because I thought I had oval Nestabilities, but realized I didn't. Luckily I had the Marvy ovals that worked fine. In the end, I chose this Karen Lockhart stamp (it's called Tomato with Greens). I colored it with copic markers. I used a white gel pen to highlight the tomato. I also used Spica glitter pens in silver for the hanger and clear to add some shimmer to the greens. It doesn't show up in the picture, but when the light hits it, it's quite shimmery. I used the white gel pen again to draw some dots in the scallops of the mat for the main image. I used the largest scalloped Nestability I had to cut the white piece and then ran it through the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder. I needed some sort of embellishment, and went for the new SU buttons. This one is Riding Hood Red. I put a piece of celery grosgrain ribbon I found in my ribbon jar behind the button. I thought the sentiment from Rosie's Roadshow fit with this unusual stamp and put two dew drops on either end. (I thought it was appropriate to use this stamp as I won it at the WNY SCS gathering I went to in April that was co-hosted by Holly! Thanks, Holly!) I finished it off with a dew drop on the button. I'm really pleased with how this turned out (for 1:00 in the morning!). In hindsight, I wish I had added some Crystal Effects to the tomato to give it some shine and dimension. I have two more cards to share, so keep on reading after the recipe.

Recipe

Stamps: Tomato with Greens (Karen Lockhart), Rosie's Roadshow (sentiment)

Paper: Certainly celery, real red, white, Summer Picnic and Certainly Celery dp

Ink: Adirondack pitch black, copic markers

Accessories: Marvy punches, Nestiabilities, cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, SU button, ribbon, dew drops, white gel pen, dimensionals, Spica glitter pens

With Sympathy

I have a friend who recenty lost her father. A few days before she had to put down her precious dog, Maggie. So I have two more sympathy cards to share. This one was inspired by Julee Tilman's card. I fell in love with it, so much so that I had to purchase these butterflies, called Fluttering By by Verve Visual, Julee's company. I started by pulling out this new dp from SU called Bella Rose and then paired it with Chocolate Chip and the new In Color Riding Hood Red. The butterfly was stamped on the white piece in Chocolate chip, again on a scrap piece of white, then again on the dp. I paper pieced the butterfly, cut it out and mounted it on top of the one stamped on the white piece (I did this because I did not want to cut out the antennae). The sentiment, from PTI's Mailbox Greetings, was also stamped in Chocolate Chip. When I mounted it on the white card, it looked a little bare, so I ran it throught the Textile cb folder, scalloped the bottom with SU's new scallop border punch, and added a strip of chocolate chip and the dp on the bottom. Dew Drops were added to the butterfly's body and anntenae and on the scallops on the bottom. (I've recently found these dew drops and have been using them quite frequently, as you can see). The inside looks like this. I love this sentiment by River City Rubber Works that I got at my LSS many years ago. The little butterfly is from Verve's Petals and Stems. I have another after this recipe so scroll down.

Recipe

Stamps: Fluttering By, Petals and Stems (Verve Visual), River City Rubber Works

Paper: Chocolate chip, riding hood red, PTI white, Bella Rose dp

Ink: Adirondack espresso

Accessories: Cuttlebug Textile folder, dew drops, SU scallop border punch, dimensionals

Goodbye Four-Legged Friend

This last one is a sympathy card for my friend who recently lost her Dalmatian, hence the black and white. I didn't have a Dalmatian stamp, so I used this one from Whipper Snapper, Sweet Sniffs of Spring, and made him look like a Dalmatian (well, sort of...use your imagination!). The image was colored with Prismacolor pencils. I think I added Crystal Effects to his nose (I don't remember because I sent it out a while ago as soon as I made it). I wanted to make this a black and white card, so I chose this patterned paper from DCWV called All Dressed Up (it's a great pack!). The ribbon (yes, that's ribbon running vertically) is something I picked up in a sale bin at Walmart. I chose to add the red to coordinate with the flower. It needed something else, so I added the paw print.

The thing I like best about this card is the sentiment on the inside. I found it used on a card on SCS a while ago and they mention it was from DRS Designs, so I went right on over and got it. I says "Four legged friends are a very special part of any family. Special thoughts are with you now that you've had to say goodbye." Since I'm a dog-lover, as are many of my friends, I had to have it for special cards like this one. Thanks so much for sticking with me on this long post and please stop by again!

Recipe

Stamps: Sweet Sniffs of Spring (Whipper Snapper), DRS Designs, Stampendous (pawprint)

Paper: Black, real red, white, DCWV All Dressed Up dp

Ink: Adirondack black

Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, ribbon, dimensionals, circle punches, Crystal Effects

Serene Spring

My husband needed a sympathy card for someone at work, so I decided to use today's sketch challenge SC186 and this new SU set called Serene Spring. I used Prismacolor pencils to color this image. I'm just noticing that it is not straight...it's sort of crooked! That really bothers me, but it's late and I'm not redoing it! This was difficult for me to do because I wanted it to be a little more masculine even with the flowers, bird and butterfly. The base of the card is sage shadow and I used the diamond cb folder. I also highlighted the embossed diamonds with some rub on metalic paste to give it some sheen. I wanted to start using up some older dp, so I used Outlaw. I like the image, but I'm really not crazy about the card. It really does look better in person (they always do!). Thanks for stopping by!
Recipe
Stamps: Serene Spring, Simple Little Things (PTI sentiment)
Paper: Sage shadow, chocolate chip, really rust, vanilla, Outlaw dp
Ink: Adirondack espresso
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, cb and folder, metalic rub on paste, dimensionals, word window punch, white gel pen

Dreams du Jour

This is for today's color challenge of soft sky, river rock, and vanilla. I started this card this morning and worked on it intermittenly throughout the day because I had some important things to do today (go to the gym, get hair done, and go to a baseball game!). I started by pulling out all the colors and the patterned paper that went with these colors. I loved the way they looked together. I chose to use this stamp from the new SU Dreams du Jour set. I stamped it in river rock, then colored the flowers with a copic marker and colored the leaves with river rock and a blender pen. I then cut it out and mounted it on two circles cut and embossed with Nestabilities. I was only going to use one of the ribbons, but couldn't decide which one so I used both. Why not, right? After it was all done, I didn't like the way the two ribbons intersected in the corner, so I added the flowers and put a crystal brad in the middle to bling it up. The flower centers on the main image needed some bling too, so I used a dab of crystal stickles. I really like the way this turned out. The sentiment is from PTI's Limitless Labels. Here is the inside of the card. The sentiment on the inside is from Gina K's Friendship Blooms. It says "Friendship isn't a big thing, it's a million little things". I think that's such a beautiful sentiment. I'm giving this to my friend Maria for her birthday tomorrow, but she won't get it until I see her on Friday. I hope she doesn't see it before then! Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow!
Recipe
Stamps: Dreams du Jour (SU), Limitless Labels (PTI), Friendship Blooms (Gina K Designs)
Paper: River rock, soft sky, vanilla, soft sky and ginger blossom dp
Ink: River rock, copic marker
Accessories: River rock and soft sky ribbon, prima flowers, crystal brad, crystal stickles, small and large oval punches, nestabilities, blender pen

Get Well Soon

I found out today that one of my favorite aunts, Aunt Vi (I've written about her on my blog before...she loves to send and receive cards), had a stroke this week and she is now in a nursing home for rehab. So I had to immediately make a card for her because we are going to visit her tomorrow afternoon. I wanted a bigger card and something very pretty and feminine. This new paper from SU, Bella Rose, is just that. And this flower from Live Your Dream worked well for this sketch by Diane Zechman (papercookies). You can see the sketch here. All the inks I used are the new SU In Colors. I used Kiwi Kiss to ink up the stem and leaves of the flower. Then I used the ink in the lid and a blender pen to get color on the flower (Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette). After I stamped it, I went over the flower again with the blender pen to get a darker color. The rest is pretty self-explanatory. The dew drops I've had for about a year and never used. I sort of forgot I had them until they fell off the shelf and hit the floor. I guess they were tired of being ignored! They are a nice accent to this paper. The PTI grosgrain ribbon is Spring Moss and went nicely with the Kiwi Kiss. This card is 5.25" square. Here is the inside. I used Pink Pirouette and a strip of the Bella Rose dp. This sentiment stamp is from JoAnn's. I purchased it a long time ago and it works for Get Well cards, birthday cards, and pretty much any other type of card. The company that makes it is Angel's Attic...never heard of them before.

Before I leave, I want to show you what I've done. It may not be an "Aha!" for you, but it is for me. I have several PTI stamp sets, and many of them have a "handstamped by" stamp in them. I'm constantly using them and have to go through all the sets to find the "right one". I had this lightbulb go off the other day to take all those stamps and put them in their OWN CASE! How genius is that? You've probably already done that, right? Well I did that today, and I'll keep that CD case near me so I can finish my card and not have to search each CD case for the right one! Here's a picture of it. It's probably going to be difficult to see, but I wanted to post it anyway. Good idea or what? Let me know if you've already done this or if this is something new to you. I'd like to know if I'm a pioneer in stamp organization! (LOL)! Thanks for stopping by and please take a look at the next card I posted today also.

Recipe

Stamps: SU: Live Your Dream, Sincere Salutations; Angel's Attic (inside sentiment)

Paper: Riding hood red, kiwi kiss, pink pirouette, Bella Rose dp, PTI white

Ink: Riding hood red, kiwi kiss, pink pirouette

Accessories: Dimensionals, circle punches, dew drops, PTI Spring Moss grosgrain ribbon

Decorative Birds

The Featured Stamper on SCS today is Susie (susiestampalot)...isn't that a cute name? Check out her gallery and blog. She's got some talent! I chose this card to case today for a few reasons. First of all, I love that Verve Anniversary Bird Susie used on her card. I don't have that one, but I have a similar one from a Hero Arts set called Decorative Birds. Secondly, I really liked the buttons she used on her card. And last, I loved the layout. When you do a featured stamper challenge, you have to change at least two things on your card. I changed the stamps, the paper, and I tweaked the layout by leaving off a layer under the bird and sentiment. It would have covered my dp too much, so I left it off. I paper pieced the bird using two dps. The blue flower button is new from SU. I also used the new SU scallop punch for the guava piece. So easy to use! The branch is PTI's Out on a Limb. This was the first time using this, and the overlay did not match up properly. I've read that there is an updated version of this set. Does anyone know about this? Was there something wrong with the overlays and did they replace it? I have to email PTI and find out. All the overlays were not lining up. I'm sending this to the family of one of my students who gave me a very nice gift card to Macy's. It's long overdue! Here is the inside of the card. The sentiment is from SU's Many Thanks and I think it's perfect for this. card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps: Decorative Birds (Hero Arts); Many Thanks (SU); Out on a Limb, Simple Little Things (PTI)

Paper: Groovy guava, really rust, soft sky, white, Fall Flowers dp

Ink: Wild wasabi, Adirondack pitch black and espresso

Accessories: buttons, twine, soft sky ribbon, dimensionals, scallop punch

A First Birthday

My great-nephew, Kristoff, is going to be a year old on Tuesday, and today was his very first birthday party. My niece had the party at a local park, Chestnut Ridge Park. He was such a good boy today...no crying, just laughing and playing with everyone. This is the card I made for him. I used Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #25. I saw this sketch yesterday and fell in love with it. When I was thinking about how I was going to do Kristoff's card, this sketch came to mind. It just looked very whimsical to me with the different shaped circles. I used this Cosmo Cricket paper, Links and Broadwith again...I think this is the third time, but they were all for boys and I really like this for boys! I'll have to get some other "boy" paper because I'm running out of these two! I used Blue Bayou for the base, then Real Red. I stamped the confetti stars and ribbon in Versamark on the red (click on the picture to see it better). It looked too bare. The circles were done in blue bayou, certainly celery, and pumkin pie and some were also covered in the dp. I didn't plan the "cupcake" theme to go along with the challenge (you don't have to use cupcakes in Taylor's challenges), but it was a nice tie in with the challenge. All the stamps used, with the exception of the candle on the cupcake, are PTI's It's a Celebration. The candle is from Piece of Cake. I used Blue Bayou, Certainly Celery, Real Red, and Summer Sun inks. This was a very simple card to put together, and I love the way it turned out. I also decorated the inside.




Now what kind of "great aunt" would I be if I didn't brag about my niece and nephew? So here are some pictures from today's party.


Kristoff and Andrea...isn't she pretty?

Kristoff is digging into his "smash" cake I made for him!

He found a better way to have his cake and eat it too!
Yum! What a cutie!

Thanks for letting me gush a little. I have no little ones of my own, so it's nice to be able to show off my family once in a while! Thanks for stopping by!
Recipe
Stamps: It's a Celebration, Piece of Cake
Paper: Blue bayou, real red, certainly celery, pumpkin pie, white, Cosmo Cricket Links and Broadwith
Ink: Blue bayou, real red, certainly celery, summer sun, Versamark
Accessories: Circle punches, dimensionals

Almost Wild Bananas?

Crazy title, huh? Making you think? Well, think no more. That is the color challenge (my version). It was supposed to be Almost Wild Saffron, but I goofed and used Barely Banana instead of So Saffron. I don't think the SCS Color Challenge police will be handing out tickets! (LOL!)

As I was sitting there watching TV, I was pondering how I was going to do this color challenge and combine it with today's sketch challenge. I was watching an old episode of Two and a Half Men. It's the one with Denise Richards in it (the then Mrs. Charlie Sheen). They even had their actual daughter, Sam, in the episode as well. In the bedroom scene, I noticed the room was painted in an amethyst color and guess what the accents were? You got it...yellow and green! I couldn't believe it! The curtains were sort of a chintz pattern in a cream color with yellow and amethyst flowers with green leaves! So there you have it! My inspiration! And here is my card.

I tried to find a flower that was soft and resembled a chintz pattern. I came up with a retired SU set called Simple Sketches. It's actually a 3-step stamp and I used the middle stamp for this. It was just soft and "sketchy" enough to give me the look I wanted. The base of the card looked bare, so I took the same stamp and used Versamark to give the background some life. I did the same to the wasabi strip. The yellow scallop piece was run through the cuttlebug using the Distressed Stripes folder. The main image is on dimensionals. The pearls on the wasabi stripe are from Hero Arts, and the larger one in the middle of the prima flower is from Martha Stewart's collection. I left off a sentiment...this could be used for pretty much any occasion. Thanks for stopping by! I noticed I have over 5,000 hits on my blog so far! Thanks so much for looking!
Recipe
Stamps: Simple Sketches
Paper: Almost amethyst, wild wasabi, barely banana, vintage cream (PTI)
Ink: Almost amethyst, wild wasabi, barely banana, Versamark
Accessories: Pearls, dimensionals, cuttlebug and Distressed Stripes folder, nestabilities, Prima flower

Super Star Birthday

Today our nephew turned 18 years old! It's hard to believe, but he is 18...and a super star! He is a really nice, goofy kid and everyone loves Mark. I'm calling him a "super star" for a few reasons. First of all, he's an excellent athlete, especially on the track. He and his team have broken many a record and he is very passionate about this sport. Second he is well-liked by all, even his classmates. So much so that he and his girlfriend were nominated King and Queen at their prom. He had this silly crown that looked like the Burger King crown. He paraded that thing around at his graduation party and was disappointed to learn that he had to return the crown (goofy, I tell ya)! And third, he is going to Fredonia State College and is going to be on the track team there. He's just had a phenominal couple of years and we are very proud of him! So, I had stars in mind when deciding on what to make for his birthday card. This is what I came up with. I started with PTI's Text Boxed set. I stamped it in Real Red on white and mounted it on red then certainly celery. I took the colors from the Cosmo Cricket Broadwith patterned paper. The card base is Blue Bayou. The sentiment is from Limitless Labels (PTI) and the numbers from Ambassador Monogram (also PTI). I was wishing I had SU's star punch...now on my list! I used the circle Nestabilities (no scallops or ribbon for this "masculine" card). The star brads I just picked up the other day at Jo Ann's for a buck ( on their dollar rack). I also finished off the inside of the card with a strip of the dp, a few stars, and the sentiment. Mark and everyone liked this card and I hope you do as well. Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps: Text Boxed, Limitless Labels, Ambassador Monogram (all PTI)

Paper: Blue bayou, certainly celery, real red, white, Cosmo Cricket Broadwith

Ink: Real red

Accessories: Star brads, nestabilities, dimensionals

Warning: Twisted Sentiment!

Hi all! My friend, Maria, just bought a bicycle for the first time in many years. She is the one who just had gastric-bypass surgery and is doing great...she has lost over 50 pounds so far! Yeah Maria! The bike she ended up buying is cotton candy pink and has a bell on it! Well, I cannot tell you how much ribbing she has gotten so far (she's only had it for a couple of days)! Her sons are having a ball with this one! I got a couple in as well, but I have to tell you I'm really proud of her! So much so, that I had to make a card in honor of this milestone in her life. With Maria's wicked humor, it couldn't be too sentimental, so this suits her well. Here is the card.

I immediately thought of this bike from SU's Time for You. Maria's bike doesn't have a basket (that was the first thing I asked her about it), but she wants one! Crazy, I know! Anyway, I used copics to color it and used the silver Spica glitter pen on the chain, on the middle of the wheels where the spokes come together, and on the horn. I also used the lemon Spica glitter pen on the middle of the flowers. It was cut and embossed with Nestabilities. Now I knew I needed a witty sentiment...something like "ride on baby". I was going through my stash of stamps and came across this MFT Twisted Sentiments set. (I looked for it on their website to link it, but couldn't find it. I don't know why.) When I saw this, I thought it would be perfect! I used Berry Bliss paper along with close to cocoa and pretty in pink. I love the addition of the flowers...I'm on a mission to use them more often. Now for the inside. I wrote my sentiment on there before I took the picture, so I had to crop it out (my handwriting is terrible and I didn't want you to see it!). Here is the inside with another Twisted Sentiment.

I wanted her to feel like she is "all that" on her cotton candy pink bicycle! I'll have to get a picture of it and post it here! I hope you get some whistles on that thing, Maria! Hope you enjoyed my post and thanks for stopping by! (PS...I'm also entering this as today's Inspiration Challenge. There were two wedding cakes in pink and brown decorated with circles. As I thought about it later, I guess I did use the colors and circle theme as my inspiration!)
Recipe
Stamps: SU Time for You; MFT Twisted Sentiments
Paper: Pretty in pink, close to cocoa, white, Berry Bliss dp
Ink: Adirondack Espresso, copic markers
Accessories: Prima flowers, brads, glue dots, dimensionals, Spica glitter pens, nestabilities

Stamp Club Cards

I haven't had a stamp club class in a while. June was extremely busy for me with closing out the school year and all. The girls were disappointed that we weren't meeting, so I made sure to accommodate them with a July class. For this class, I'm using some sneak peek, current, and retiring (and some retired) stamps. A little bit of everything. I'm starting out with the sneak peek, Fresh Cuts. I've had this set for a while, but never got around to using it. I had to go to the SCS gallery to see what everyone was doing with it, and of course Mary Fish's (Stampin' Pretty) card caught my eye and I cased it but changed it a bit. Here's my version.

The colors come from Color Challenge 172, Taken with Teal, Wild Wasabi, and White, except I swapped out the Wasabi for celery. The base of the card is teal, and I used the stylized flower CB folder for the white background. The dp is Certainly Celery prints (which is why I swapped the Wasabi for the Celery). I did, however, stamp the image in Wasabi because it is a darker color. I used the blender pen and ink from the lid to color in the flowers, the flourish, and the moon/sun. I did quite a few layers to bring out the colors of the main image, and white grosgrain ribbon finished it off.

Recipe

Stamps: Fresh Cuts

Paper: White, certainly celery, taken with teal, certainly celery dp

Ink: Wild wasabi, certainly celery, taken with teal

Accessories: ribbon, cuttlebug & stylized flower folder, dimensionals, blender pen, ticket corner punch

Monograms

Monograms seem to be all the rage in stamping now with JustRite Stampers jumping into the stamping pool recently. They are really cool, and it seems they are coming out with more and more versions of the original. I've been debating whether or not to order it and all the accessories. I know I eventually will, but I just recently got this Lovely Letters Alphabet set with my earnings from Sale-a-Bration and they really are lovely! I decided to see what type of monogram I could come up with using my SU stuff (cause I can't use other stamps in my classes). Low and behold, I found that these letters fit into two of the frames from Frames with a Flourish (another set I got with my Sale-a-Brations earnings). I chose to use these two sets together to create this monogram set. The letters fit into the circle and the square from

set. The square was a little too large, but will work beautifully on another project, I'm sure! I used the Ginger Blossoms dp and Cameo Coral, River Rock, Groovy Guava, and Ruby red cardstock and ink. Each one was done a little differently, but they all coordinate. I did two landscape and two portrait just to mix it up a bit. I also placed the monogram in different places on the strip. I used decorative scissors to do the scallops on the cardstock (my SU scallop punch is in transit...I should have it next week), and used SU's scallop circle punch as well. The base is of the notecard is vanilla. The three little flowers is the stamp from Live Your Dreams and it finished off and balanced out the card nicely. Now, I couldn't just let these beautiful notecards just float around without a home! They needed a folder in which to reside! So this is what I made.




I took a whole sheet of Groovy Guava cardstock, scored it at 5 1/2", then at 2 1/4" to create the pocket inside. I used the sticky strip red-line tape to close up the pockets. The ribbon is run through a hole punched with the slot punch. The sentiment is from SU's retired Vintage Postcard (my first SU set, and I still love it!). You can add some envelopes in the other pocket and maybe some stamps to have handy. This is a nice gift to give (to someone else or to yourself!)

Recipe

Stamps: Frames with a Flourish, Lovely Letters, Live Your Dreams, Vintage Postcard

Paper: Groovy Guava, Cameo Coral, River Rock, Ruby Red, Vanilla, Ginger Blossoms dp

Ink: Groovy guava, Cameo coral, River rock, Ruby red