Day 9: Bubble Wrap & Bling

Today I focused on trying to make a simple one-layer card....but then I changed my mind! Instead I used a new technique: stamping with bubble wrap! No kidding! and sooooo easy....take a peek:

The polka dots are my bubble wrap "stamp". I inked the wrap with Tempting Turquoise and then "kissed" it with Green Galore. Then I laid it on my white card stock. I made sure to press down on each bubble so the image would transfer.

The sentiment is a Michael's $1 stamp. I thought the bling on the border really fit with the "live it up" theme. Card stock is Green Galore and PTI White.

Enjoy!

Hugs,

Day 8: You Are My Sunshine

My friend was telling me the other day that I have too many stamps (is that even possible?!?) I had to agree that I have too many I don't use! My SU sets get the most love I think because they take up more room-they are hard to miss! I sometimes have to remind myself that I also have clear stamps too!

Today I was browsing my clear stamp collection and came across a stamp that I absolutely adored but had never used. I bought it at Michael's for $1 and it says "You are my sunshine". I used to sing this to my son when he was little and when I saw this stamp I immediately thought of uses for it. Of course, when I got home it was thrown in with the rest of the pile!

So today I put a smile on my face and put my sunshine stamp to use!

I have to tell you that I LOVE these red daisies that I picked out for my kitchen. My plan is to use red and yellow in my kitchen's color scheme, but have yet to find artwork or anything I am happy with. Today I may have found a solution!

I think the simplicity of the card is fabulous. Sometimes simple really is better. I actually made the card and then realized how similar it was to my daisies! For just a little extra something I painted yellow Stickles into the word sunshine.

I think painting the Stickles added a subtlety to the shimmer in the letters instead of overwhelming them with 3D glitter effects.

The red flower is a Die Cut Bloom from SU. The button is just a generic yellow one that I think I got at Walmart. I used Riding Hood red ink for the sentiment, Yoyo Yellow CS, and PTI white cardstock for the card base.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope there's a little sunshine in your day!


Hugs,

Day 7: Second Grade Valentine's

Already the daily blog grind is becoming easier! Today I got to stamp with friends- and stampin is always better with friends! I knew what I wanted to work on, so it was no problem to chat and stamp at the same time!

Part of the whole point of this 30 day challenge is to use what you have on hand and today is no exception! I bought prescored packs of Wild Wasabi cardstock from SU forever ago figuring that if nothing else it would be some extra stock of that yummy color....Well today I have put it to use! These are the treats we will be giving to my second grader's class for Valentine's Day....

In addition to the prscored (how easy is that!?) card stock I also used a new DSP called Raspberry Tart. I absolutely LOVE this paper! I used one of the more chromatic designs for this card. The large heart in the middle is from a new set called Love You Much. I stamped the image in Rose red then colored the flowers Cameo Coral. The dots were colored Wild Wasabi green.

I thought it would be cool to cover the heart in Crystal Effects to give it an epoxy 3D texture. When I did this, my colors kinda ran together and the green in the dots practically disappeared. My solution was to redo the dots in Lime Green Stickles after the CE dried. I mounted the heart on a wasabi mat and adhered it using dimensionals.

The ribbon is some 1" Rose Red grossgrain that I thought was retired but realized today is luckily still available. To finish off the flap at the top, I stamped a rose red sentiment from Toucan of my Love onto a strip of cameo coral and used the scallop punch on the flap edge. I also detailed the little hearts with a white gel pen. DD got home from school and loved it....MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Challenge: Day 6 For My Valentine

For today's project I just made a simple little valentine for my hubby...I prefer something a little cutesy for him. This gave me a chance to use my scraps as inspiration and I used retired In Colors for this. The Happy Valentine's Day sleeve could also be used for a mini candy bar too. I love the Zoofari set on this!

Paper: SU Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, So Saffron, Whisper White
Stamps: Zoofari and Toucan of my Love
Ink: Black Staz-on, white gel pen
Other:retired elastic ribbon, silver brads, Tootsie Pop

Hugs,

Challenge:Day 5 Monkey Business

Day 5. Today I took a look at my stamp sets and decided this little monkey needed some love...He makes me happy!

Details:
Stamps:SU Sock monkey
Paper: Tempting turquoise, old olive, rose red, WW, retired DSP
Ink: Tempting turquoise, old olive, close to cocoa, pretty in pink
Used beads and crystal effects on icing, yellow stickles on candle. Took apart metallic turquoise ribbon for part hat pom pom. Used retired ribbon behind DSP.

Thanks for looking!


Hugs,

Challenge: Day Four - Faux Mosaic

Whew! Boy did I start today's project late! But I finished before my deadline, so YAY me! Since I have been spending more time on the computer lately I have been checking out more blogs, too. I was looking at Jessica's Stampergarten the other day and saw THIS card using a faux mosaic technique. Hmmmm....never tried that one before, seems simple enough, so I went for it. I was very careful to only use the technique and not CASE anything directly and here is what I came up with:


I started this project somewhere around 9 pm and it took me nearly three hours to complete. That is mostly because I decided to do a flower with tons of little pieces...and I wasn't sure on the design. I am learning that it sometimes takes me FOREVER to get a new idea down in paper! I sure hope this 30 day challenge exercises my brain well enough that I will become much faster at this!

Here are the details: The whole flower image was pieced by me. I cut basic shapes down into smaller pieces to create the image, then embossed with light blue embossing powder in all the open areas. I used the scallop edge punch to make a frame on the side and put a cardstock sticker strip in the window to peek out. I mounted the Friend sentiment on white and red ovals using brads. Overall, I kinda like this card! It makes me happy! I will try to find solid adhesive sheets next time though...all I had was strips of Tacky Tape which left a sort of picket fence effect in the embossing. It sorta adds some charm though, don't ya think???

Colors used: Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue, Real Red & So Saffron

Well, thanks for stopping by! And don't forget to leave a comment if you like what I am doing...I need all the encouragement I can to get through this challenge! LOL

Happy Stamping!

Hugs,

Fanatic

As most people know, I am a reality TV junkie. Seriously. I watch so much reality TV it's not funny! One of my current fixations is vh1's Confessions of a Teen Idol. The show itself is rather silly, but one of my personal teenage idol's is on that show. Want proof??

Here is a pic taken 10 years ago of my hubby and me in LAX airport with Jamie Walters (now on COATI):


Can I just say that I was utterly starstruck at this point?!? I know some of you may be thinking "who is that?" But let me tell you...I knew and I loved him!

A little background: Jamie Walters was in a movie called Shout with John Travolta. He also starred in a TV series called The Heights (my personal favorite!) which was on either before or after 90210 back in like 1991-1992. Still not ringin a bell? He also had a hit song "How Do You Talk To An Angel" which was also the theme of The Heights. Nothing, huh? Okay well, for all you 90210 fans out there-he also played Ray Pruit, Donna's abusive guitar playing beau who threw her down the stairs....DING DING DING! That got it, huh? Many people remember that character...but that is a shame.

So I find myself tuning into vh1 to see how Jamie's "return to fame" will work out. He is a firefighter EMT now with a wife and some gorgeous kiddos and he is trying to get back into the music biz. I wish him the best. And I will be tuned in to see how it all turns out!

Hugs,

Challenge:Day Three Baptism Page

Here we are on Day 3 of my 30 day creativity challenge. While doing yesterday's project I realized that I had a whole set of felt flowers that I had NEVER EVEN OPENED!! How many of you do this? I am constantly buying stuff that I think is neat only to have it sit (in this case in a jar) for months without a second glance. Another reason I think this 30 day challenge will help me!

I decided yesterday that I really wanted to use some of those felt flowers on today's project. I also decided I would make a scrapbook page. It's been FOREVER since I attempted any sort of scrapbooking! Needless to say, it took me a little longer than planned. The only thing that didn't change was the felt flowers. I Changed my mind on everything from the background paper to the pictures! Note to self: when scrapbooking, stick to what you do best! In my case it is taking inspiration from my photos NOT some embellishment of the day!

So after many "rewrites" my page turned out like so (click on pic to enlarge):


Admittedly, this is not the typical colors I would have thought to do a baptism page in. I do not mind them though...a little non-traditional. My plan is to journal a bible verse into the large orange flower...but I am not sure that is enough. Although I really like my chipboard "I" I can't help but think it is missing something...it seems to stick out like a sore thumb...

So please feel free to leave any suggestions you may have...If I use any of them I will post the finished page at a later date.

And for you crafty people that need to know the deets-here they are:
(all items SU unless noted otherwise)
Paper: Old Olive Textured CS, Pumpkin Pie Textured CS, Positively Pink CS, Die Cut Blooms
Ink:Whisper white Craft (on chipboard)
Other: Scalloped edge punch, green & white rub ons (SU SAB 2008), Flower Fusion Felt flowers, Circle Ice brads in green, cross and chipboard from unknown source, orange Stickles

Just a note: I added some color to the cross with markers, and the vine-y rub on was done green over white to produce a shadow effect.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Day Two: More Shower Inspiration

I am pleased to bring you day two's project, again inspired by a bottle in my shower. Here is my inspiration...

And here is the result (drumroll please)...

I was downstairs when I made this so I forgot that the lettering on the bottle was actually black. I don't mind the blue so much. I used Bashful Blue with some brocade blue on the background image and Ballet Blue for the sentiment. I finally pulled out a couple of flowers from my collection and put them to good use! And I gotta tell you about that white one! It is just an ordinary flower-probably prima if I had to guess-but here's the WOW: I embossed it! And I LOVE how the embossing brings almost a plastic shiny quality to the bloom. Here is a closer look (albeit blurry I am sure):


Can you see the shine? There is a little light reflecting off the top petals.



I learned this little trick when I went to the SU Regional in Orlando a couple of weeks ago. I would have never thought to emboss a flower! You can emboss the fabric ones (like in the Pretties kit) too! They said you dont even have to use versamark..just get it wet and but some embossing powder on it!

How cool is that? I don't know what it is about these little 4x4 cards, but I am really starting to like the size...

Well, thanks for checking up on me...only 28 more days to go!


Hugs,

NEW new signature!

WOW! So I have to thank Elizabeth over at Covered in Crafts for offering to spruce up my siggy! She added some shading to the background so it would match my layout.

Elizabeth, YOU ROCK!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! I absolutely love what you've done!

I will have to keep you in my blog-o-dex for when I decide to change my color scheme!

Thanks again girl!

BTW- she does some nice work, and she has some blog candy too so get on over there!

Hugs,

New signature...

Does this count as being creative???? ;o)

Someone once told me that my signature didn't look like my handwriting at all. Well, I have come up with a solution to that!

Whaddya think????


Hugs,

30 day challenge: Day 1- INSPIRE ME!

Today has been very busy. The kids are running around like crazy, the laundry is piled up, the house is a complete mess....but I got through day one!
I was so excited about challenging myself that my mind has been racing for the past 24 hours. Matter of fact, last night as I showered all I could see was inspiration! I never realized how interesting some of my toiletry bottles are! It took all I had not to run downstairs at 10 pm and put my idea into use. And here is what it was:


Part of my Christmas from my children was some Peppermint shower gel they had given me. As I lathered up last night I noticed how striking the bottle was....not only the black and white, but also the silver and clear. And if I layered those concepts......

Voila! A card for my first challenge day! As usual, the picture is a bit blurry! I either need to a) improve my photo skills or b) GET A NEW CAMERA!!! This is driving me insane! Anyway....

This is a 4x4 note card done in black and white and then overlaid with some silver embossed transparency. The black mat was placed under the transparency while the white focal point was placed on top. I attached the two elements together with black brads. And I am not sure if you can tell, but I did a little dry embossing around the image to make it stand out.

I really had fun putting my idea into a card and already have my eyes on another soap bottle for tomorrow's project! Tune in next time...

Have a good evening!

Hugs,

Creativity challenge

Inspired by my dear friend Jen, I have decided to challenge myself to do 30 days of creativity! I really got burned out over the holidays and it is time to jump start my craftiness! My goal is to create something new every day and actually take pictures of it! I am also going to try not to CASE anything directly....I will also not be purchasing anything except adhesive---with one exception. I do plan on placing a rather large SU order in February when Sale-a-bration starts to get my Big Shot.

My challenge will run from Jan 23 to Feb 22...I have until midnight each day to post a project. Wish me luck! And happy crafting!!!

Hugs,

100 things...

I am accepting my friend Jen's challenge and posting this on my blog too! Although I am sure my few readers have by now found better things to do....haha! See how many things YOU have done! (mine are in bold)

100 things....
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (if you count rock band and guitar hero!)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (I have been to DisneyWORLD however)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (Does in the shower count?) 11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (who hasn't??)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Hugged a goat
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (technically, just the outside)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Had your heart stop
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

I am wondering who came up with this list...surely there are more amazing things that have been done out there.....post your own in my comments section and we will see what we have in common! Clean responses only please...I really am not interested in the "seedier" side of your lives! :)


Hugs,