Any Birdy Home?

Happy Sunday! It's snowing here in Buffalo, NY, but I'm thinking Spring today! I love birdhouses, so when Kristin from Artful INKables sent me this set to work with, I was delighted!This is from the February release and it's called Any Birdy Home? There are three lovely birdhouses in this set that are a nice size, two sentiments, two flowers and a leaf. They are a nice rubber and stamp very nicely.

I decided to use the Color Throwdown colors of brown, pink, and olive. My olive is SU's Kiwi Kiss. It matched my dp from Urban Garden. The pink is Pink Pirouette. I seem to be working with all retired colors! The sketch is from SCS. I just thought it looked interesting and I flipped it to accommodate my image. It's hard to see, but the white mat and the pink and green pieces are all sponged with Close to Cocoa ink. The background of the main image was also swirled with some Close to Cocoa ink while still in the die. I LOVE this ribbon. It's not wired, but it bends really nicely into any shape you want. It's from American Crafts and I got it a while ago probably from AC Moore. I finally used my Bow Easy to make the bow, too!

Well that's it for today. I'm at a baby shower for my dh's cousin's daughter, so no stamping for me this afternoon! :-(

The Think INK Tuesday challenge over on the AI blog is still going on until tomorrow. The challenge is to make something naughty or nice. Mine is obviously nice! You could win a grab bag of AI stamps for entering. Check it out here.

Thanks for stopping in today! Enjoy your Sunday, and have a great week!

Recipe
Stamps: Any Birdy Home? (AI)
Paper: Neenah white, chocolate chip, pink pirouette, Urban Garden dp
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, close to cocoa
Copic Markers: RV0000, 000, 10,21, 23; YG0000, 95, 97; E18, 37; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, tag die, diamond CB folder, ribbon, star dust stickles, Kaiser pearls, dimensionals

Just Us Girls - Template Challenge

Hi everyone! Happy Saturday! I'm excited to bring this template challenge to you today from Just Us Girls.Our template challenges are being sponsored by My Time Made Easy. Lauren Meader has expanded her line of Cute Critters and I have two new ones to show you that will be available on Monday, March 1. Here are the Bouncing Bunny and Cute Lil' Chick making their debut.These little critters just make me smile! :-) I used the Under Cover template as the base for these and used the SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) software and my Cricut Expression to cut them out. The pieces of the bunny and chick are cut files also cut with the Cricut using SCAL. I used copic markers to color in the face of the chick and the nose of the bunny. I sponged the edges of the critters with Close to Cocoa on the bunny and barely banana on the chick. I liked the depth of color this technique gave me. I don't know if you can see it, but I used pink chalk to highlight the bunny's ears and cheeks. I used Basic Grey papers for the bellies on both....Bittersweet on the bunny and Lemonade on the chick. I added the flowers, coordinating ribbon to hold the box together, and the cotton for the bunny's tail! And the Under Cover box is big enough to hold some really great goodies, too! Adorable, right? You should see what the JUGS DT has created! They have done some very clever things with these critters! Stop by the JUGs blog to see all of them. You can also stop by the blogs of each of the DT members. We are saying goodbye to our February Guest Designer, Iwona Palamountain, also. She has done a fabulous job with us, so please make sure you stop by her blog to give her some love.

Kristin Bueter
Pam Imholz
Alicia Weiman
Dana Gustafson
Maria Levine
Mona Pendleton
Tracey Cuccia
Iwona Palamountain (February Guest Designer)

If you'd like to play along, you can use ANY template or design of your own. Just stop by the JUGs blog to get the details! Lauren is giving away a template of your choice by a random drawing if you participate in the JUGs template challenge!

You've read about the SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) software I've used on this project. Canda, from Canda Craft, is offering a 10% discount at her store for my readers. Here's the information if you are interested in a discount:

Coupon code: JUGS315

Expiration Date: 3/15/10

Discount: 10% off ENTIRE purchase
http://www.candacraft.com

Thanks for stopping by today and for your kind comments. They are truly appreciated!

Makeup 4 the Weekend Challenge

Happy Friday everyone! I'm here with a Makeup for the Weekend challenge from Paper Makeup Stamps. This week Lisa McKinney is hosting and she chose an inspiration challenge. Look at the fantastic picture she chose for inspiration.I am a very literal person...even with sketches, so I naturally went literal with this picture and created this card.I'm not sure I like my brayering. I should have used glossy cardstock...I know that works much better, but I forgot and just used regular cardstock. I brayered Cool Caribbean ink (retired SU) using a piece of ripped paper to keep the white on the bottom. (I tried to soften the white/blue edge with more caribbean ink by using a dauber. Not sure I like that either!) I punched a 1" circle for the sun and placed that on the cardstock while I brayered the caribbean ink. Then to get the yellow, I used the negative piece from the circle punch, placed it around the opening and inked that with barely banana. I like the effect of the white around the edges. I used Friendly Flowers for the flowers/vines and the sentiment is from Birthday Cheer. The butterflies were created with a Martha Stewart punch using Basic Grey's June Bug dp. There are crystals on each butterfly and star dust stickles on the flowers. I used my new grass border punch that I just purchased on my shopping trip last weekend with my friend Cheryl. Oh, and I sewed around the edges! I'm real happy with that! LOL!!

So what do you think? I'd love to hear from you. I like the outcome. I actually made this on Monday and thought of changing it all week, but left it alone...I had more DT work to do and other things going on this week after work! No time to play around! Check out the details for this challenge on the PMS blog. You can link up your creation on Mr. Linky there for us to see!

Thanks for stopping in and I hope you have a great weekend! I know I so look forward to mine! See you tomorrow for a My Time Made Easy template challenge from Just Us Girls! You won't want to miss that!

Recipe
Stamps: Dream Big, Birthday Cheer (PMS)Paper: Neenah white, summer sun, garden green, June Bug (Basic Grey)
Ink: Barely banana, garden green, cool caribbean
SU Markers: Real red, baroque burgundy, garden green, summer sun, really rust
Accessories: MS butterfly and grass punches, 1" circle punch, crystals, star dust stickles, brayer, sewing machine

Mr. & Mrs. Whooty Love Owl

Hi all! I have something really cute to share with you today. I met with my friend Cheryl Rowley on Friday for some stamp shopping and I wanted to give her a little present (she always gives me something she's handmade...so sweet!). I knew her sister collects owls, so I decided to make two cute critters from My Time Made Easy. Here is Mr. & Mrs. Whooty Love Owl. I used the cut file from MTME called Whooty Love Owl and the Undercover template. I used my Cricut Expression and SCAL software (I'll get to that later) to cut the boxes and the all parts of the owls with the exception of the eyes and the bellies. I used the PDF files for those and traced the bellies on the Shutterfly digital paper. These were so fun to make! It was a little confusing to figure out all the pieces and the coordinating colors I was going to use, but once I got that out of the way and created the first one, the second one went together in no time! The one thing I added after I took the picture was regal rose and chocolate chip ribbon around each box. It looked so cute with the ribbon! Inside one of the boxes were some stamps I had for Cheryl. Lauren Meader has a couple on her blog that are adorable! On one, she used the Heart Stealer Raccoon cut files to create a skunk! So clever and cute!

Now I have a special offer for you. I was approached by Canda of Canda Craft to offer my readers a 10% discount on their entire purchase at her store. This is where I got my SCAL software (Sure Cuts A Lot). It's a software you load onto your computer that will work with your Cricut and any .svg files. My Time Made Easy sells all their templates and cut files in the .svg format. The SCAL and Cricut do all the cutting work for you! That's what I used when I cut out my Undercover box and the owl pieces for my project above. It's an amazing software! There are also many .svg files out there in the www (some free!) that you can download and cut (just do a google search)! The SCAL software also has many of its own shapes and such that you can use, as well. I haven't played with all the bells and whistles yet (I've only had it for about 2 months), but I've seen what it can do and I'm impressed! Lauren Meader has a tutorial here on her blog that you can view for more information.

So if you are interested, here is the information you'll need for the discount.

Coupon Code: JUGS315
Expiration Date: 3/15/10
Discount: 10% off ENTIRE purchase

http://www.candacraft.com

Long post, huh? I hope you visit Canda Craft and see if there is anything you can use with the discount! She has more items in her store that are stamping related, so take a peak! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your week!