Sweet Tiny Tag

Had to make yet one more card before going to bed...this time I used Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday sketch for the layout. I made the paper flower by punching out 5 scallop circles, scrunching up each layer & adhering with a brad. The leaves are die cut with a CB, as are the Nestie circles. The leaves & circle were lightly sponged with Vintage Photo ink. A short post this time...nitol!

STAMPS: SU Tiny Tags
PAPER: Very Vanilla, Classic K Margo 12 x 12 DP by K&Co
INK: Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink
ACCESSORIES: BasicGrey brads, Cuttlebug, Dotted Swiss EF, Small Circle & Small Classic Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Leaves die (SU), Gold cording, Tiny tag punch (SU), Scallop border punch (SU), Scallop circle punch (SU), Sponge

Music to my Butterfly Ears

Nicole Taylor (aka ButterflyEars) is the featured stamper this week on SCS and she has quite an awesome gallery! I chose to CASE her lovely distressed card as well as combine it with OCC's challenge to be inspired by music. What makes better music than waking up to birds singing at your window?! I stamped the music BG on Naturals Ivory CS by SU, tore the edges, sponged with Tim Holtz' Vintage Photo Distress Ink, the distressed some more with a tool. The bird was also sponged w/distress ink & popped with dimensionals. His eye is a BasicGrey Opaline half pearl. DP is from the gorgeous Classic K Margo 12 x 12 pad by K&Co. Remember to put a song in someone's heart today!

STAMPS: Verve Swan Song (sentiment), Me & Carrie Lou (music BG)
ACCESSORIES: Distressing tool, Satin ribbon, Bird/branch punch (SU)

Hydrangea

This month's Viva la Verve challenges will feature inspiration from dining rooms. My spring table arrangement is an antique milk glass basket that I filled with spring blooms in shades of pink, purple, yellow & green. I was inspired to use this retired hydrangea image which was colored with Copics. The BG looks like torn layers but is actually some DP I've had in my stash for ages. I tend to neglect using vellum, but added the sentiment stamped on vellum and fastened with decorative brads. I woke up to about 5 inches of snow and it's still coming down...looks like it's close to a foot by now! I'm thinking spring with my cards even though the weather is saying otherwise. As my mother likes to say...this too shall pass. Thanks so much for stopping by...hope you're having a great weekend!

STAMPS: SU Stipple Hydrangea, Happy Everything
PAPER: Lovely Lilac (SU), New Leaf (PTI), Neenah Solar White, Textured vellum DP by Provo Craft, Vellum
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Scallop corner rounder punch (Marvy), Fleur de lis brads (Creative Impressions.com), Copic sketch markers YG00, YG03, YG06, BV00, BV02, BV04, BV08

Turning 70 Sucks!

Now, wait a minute...it's not me turning 70...it's my BIL! Hope to bring a little chuckle to him and his wife as he turns another milestone birthday this w/e. I placed floral foam in a wire basket, then added a variety of 70 suckers. I used shredded, crinkled paper as a filler to hide the foam. The sentiment was computer-generated. TFL!

(Singing) Nobody knows the truffles I've seen...

This is my little 'tin, tag & treat' creation for the Verve Project Parade on the Verve blog. I found this inexpensive tin at Michael's, filled it with Lindt truffles, and had a ball decorating it! I stamped 5 of the square designs from Accent Notes (Verve) with Versamark ink, then embossed with fine black EP, punched them out with Creative Memories Square Maker, punched with a slot punch, then wove Red Poppy ribbon (PTI) through each of the 5 squares. A rhinestone adhesive heart was added to each center. The lid was decorated with 2 Nesties, colored with Copic sketch marker R29 & clear rhinestones added. The heart was embossed in black, cut out & popped with dimensionals. The tag attached by ribbon is simple with a punched heart border and a fun quote by Charles Schulz: "All you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt". Not sure yet who will be the recipient of this sweet treat...could it be you?

STAMPS: Verve Accent Notes, Love's Flower (sentiment), Hearts on Fire
PAPER: Pure Poppy (PTI), Neenah Solar White, Black
INK: Versamark
ACCESSORIES: Pure Poppy ribbon (PTI), Rhinestone stickers (Me & My Big Ideas), CB, Scallop & Circle Nestabilities, Martha Stewart heart border punch, Black/white ribbon by Flourishes, Inkadinkadoo black EP

Lilacs Abound

Guess I'm trying to have thoughts of spring while a cold blast has hit our area of VA again - down in the 20's last night. Brrr... Lilacs are one of my fave flowers so when I saw the Color Throwdown challenge colors, I knew I wanted to use this retired SU set. The butterfly is from a 2nd SU set (also retired) and was stamped in eggplant then colored with Copics (BG72, Y08). The plaid BG was stamped in Certainly Celery ink, then moved slightly and stamped again in Elegant Eggplant - quick and easy DP! The layout is today's sketch challenge on SCS. Stay warm and thanks for stopping by my blog!

STAMPS: SU Blossoms Abound, Beautiful Butterflies, Stipple Plaid BG
PAPER: Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant, Baja Breeze, Neenah Solar White
INK: Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant, Baja Breeze
ACCESSORIES: Ribbon (SU), Kaiser silver pearls, Ticket corner punch

I Lift Up My Eyes...

I wanted to showcase one of the lovely verses that Julee Tilman, owner/designer of Verve stamps, so beautifully creates fonts for. I used Mercy Kerin's Tuesday sketch for the layout. Quick and easy card with some punched leaves & border (thanks to Martha Stewart), a pierced border and some great DP by 29th Street Market. Thanks for looking and commenting!

STAMPS: Verve 'Ps. 121:1-2'
PAPER: Neenah Solar White, 29th Street Market DP, Sage Shadow
INK: Perfect Plum
ACCESSORIES: Ghost shape by Heidi Snapp, Corduroy brad (SU), Doily Lace border, fern & frond punches by MS, Piercing tool/template, Dimensionals

Have a Heart

The color challenge on SCS was to use Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink & Melon Mambo...now that's a lotta shades of pink! I cased Laurie Schmidlin's RAK thank you card on the left and changed the score lines, added layers, & omitted the sentiment.
STAMPS: Verve 'Heart Flutter'
PAPER: Core-dinations, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Ribbon (SU), Glue pen, Diamond glitter, Kaiser silver pearls, Scor-pal, Dimensionals

Black Magic

Well, I learned one important thing...I NEED TUTORING ON BLACK MAGIC! Karen Barber is the featured stamper on SCS this week and she has so many gorgeous creations using the black magic technique with her twist of white gel pen dots. My gel pen would not cooperate with me today, plus I had never done this before, so this is a feeble attempt to case Karen's card. I stamped the image with white pigment ink, dried it with a heat gun, then colored with Prismacolor pencils. I added dots using a Signo white gel pen. A quick punched border and a poppy red ribbon finished it off! Thanks for stopping by...


STAMPS: SU Kindness Shared (retired)
PAPER: Neenah Solar White, Black, Mambi Color Basics DP by Me & My Big Ideas
INK: White pigment ink (Colorbox)
ACCESSORIES: Poppy red ribbon (PTI), Scallop trim border punch (SU), CB, Circle Nestabilities.

Here we go 'round in circles...

I love circle cards, but they really are a challenge for me. I was glad for the push by Teresa Kline who posted a circle sketch on the Mojo Monday blog to get our Monday Mojo going. All the papers are by Papertrey Ink (PTI). I cut the aqua base using the small classic circle Nestabilities. The circle layer is the largest die from the large circle Nestabilities. The lemon tart section was embossed with a CB folder. The sentiment & flowers were stamped in Versamark then embossed with black fine EP.


STAMPS: Verve Bountiful Backgrounds (sentiment) & Because of You (flowers)
PAPER: PTI Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart, Everyday Blessings DP
INK: Versamark
ACCESSORIES: Ribbon (Flourishes), Kaiser brad & black pearl, PTI vintage buttons, CB, Nestabilities, EF

Echo Inspiration

The Saturday challenge on SCS was to find inspiration from the Echo website. I had scraps of black, white & green from my previous card, so when I saw the bedroom ensemble in the same colors, I quickly created a CAS (clean & simple) card. I ran the white BG through the CB using a herringbone embossing folder. The daisy layers were die cut in the CB, glued together & fastened with a brad. The sentiment was stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with black fine EP. A quick ribbon treatment and the inspiration card was done. TFL & commenting! I'll be working the weekend, so there won't be any creative time until Monday.


STAMPS: Verve Accent Notes
PAPER: Black, White, Green Galore

Palindrome Date: 01-22-10

Notice today’s date??? It is the SAME forwards and backwards! That is known as a palindrome. Wendy's SCS challenge was to use a palindrome in our sentiment and if we used DP, it had to be a mirror image design (I hope houndstooth qualifies). I combined this with Amber's Viva La Verve challenge to use her sketch as well as be inspired by one of her foyer pics. I chose the black and white foyer with a pop of green to inspire my DAD card. The green panel was run through the CB with a houndstooth EF. The images were stamped using a Versamark pad, then embossed with black EP. Ovals were cut with Creative Memories' oval cutter. Hope your palindrome day is a good one!

STAMPS: Verve Protector
PAPER: Green Galore, Neenah Solar White, Mambi Color Basics DP by My Mind's Eye (Michael's)
INK: Versamark
ACCESSORIES: Black EP, CB, Houndstooth EF, CM oval cutter, Grosgrain ribbon, Black adhesive dots, Dimensionals

The SCS challenge today was to 'cut out the image or sentiment' on a card...easy for me, since I do this frequently! I stamped the flowers twice, colored with Copics, cut out & popped with dimensionals. Cinnamon stickles were added to the centers (hard to photograph with it being such a cloudy, gray day in VA) so they sparkle IRL. The white BG panel was run through the CB using an EF. Again, I used my new Tiny Tags set from SU for the sentiment...a hello card to send to someone for no other reason than to say hello. Thanks for stopping by!

STAMPS: SU Soft Summer, SU Tiny Tags
PAPER: So Saffron, Old Olive, Neenah Solar White
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Kaiser gold pearls, Gold cording, Tiny tag punch (SU), CB, EF, Cinnamon stickles, Dimensionals, Copic sketch markers

Quilted Throwdown

I'm a newbie to the Color Throwdown challenges every Wednesday and couldn't resist playing with today's springy colors - So Saffron, Melon Mambo & Old Olive. My mother and grandmother were both avid quilters, but sad to say, this is the closest to quilting that I'll get accomplished. I used Creative Memories smallest square maker to punch out 12 squares. I glued them to a piece of scrap paper, stitched the seams on my Janome mini, ran it through the Cuttlebug using SU's top note die, then ran it through the CB again using the dotted swiss embossing folder. Julee Tilman released some fabulous new Verve stamps last Friday, so had to ink up the flower image in the Love's Flower set. I stamped it twice, colored with Copics, cut out & layered with dimensionals. I added a tiny tag sentiment to the ribbon and there you have it! Play time is over and it's time to get ready for work...hope you are having a super day!

STAMPS: Verve Love's Flower, SU Tiny Tags
PAPER: So Saffron, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Black, White
INK: Melon Mambo (tag sponging), Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Ribbon (SU), Tiny Tag punch (SU), CB, Top note die (SU), CB dotted swiss EF, Janome mini sewing machine, Brad, Copics

Thinking Spring

What a great surprise when I came home from work at 11 p.m. and found my new SU & Verve orders at the door...YAY! New toys to play with! The SCS sketch challenge was posted early, so I cut into this luscious DP - isn't the sparkle fun? And that tiny tag punch w/sentiment from SU is just the cutest...I can see I'll be using that a lot. I used my trusty Cuttlebug to emboss the white panels. The Bow Easy template makes it so easy to tie a perfect bow. Thanks for stopping by and I love to read your comments.

STAMPS: PTI Blooming Button Bits, SU Tiny Tags
PAPER: Neenah Solar White, Pretty in Pink, Sending Love Specialty DP by SU
INK: Certainly Celery, Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: PTI buttons, Ribbon (SU), Tiny Tag punch (SU), CB, Dotted Swiss EF, Sponge, Dimensionals

Hang in There!

Mercy Kerin has another great sketch this Tuesday. It was an early post, so I stayed up late and burned the midnight oil to combine her layout with Betty Wright's color challenge on SCS which was to use Bashful Blue, Rose Red & Soft Suede. Definitely some challenging colors for me! I love using Verve's Bountiful BG stamps to create my own DP, so I pulled the striped image and stamped Soft Suede on white CS. The pocket was cut out and fastened with copper brads. The flowers, leaves and border are all punches from the Martha Stewart collection. Diamond Stickles were added to the flower centers. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set that I thought typified the image of the frog "hanging in there"....and here's hoping you do exactly that! :-)

STAMPS: Verve Bountiful Backgrounds
SU Pocket Fun
Hero Arts Playful Animals
PAPER: Neenah Solar White, Rose Red, Soft Suede, Green Galore, Bashful Blue
INK: Soft Suede, Always Artichoke, Rose Red
ACCESSORIES: Martha Stewart arch lattice punch, MS frond punch, MS flower combo punch, Copper brads, Diamond Stickles, Googlie eyes, Dimensionals

It's Mojo Monday Time!

The Mojo Monday sketch is something I look forward to on Monday morning...as opposed to my looming laundry pile. I combined the layout (created by Mary Fish) with the CAS challenge on Splitcoaststampers. The Bermuda Bay panel was CB'd using a dotted swiss border EF then 2 lines were scored on each side. The ovals were cut using Creative Memories oval cutter then lightly sponged with Soft Suede. Hearts were stamped, punched & popped w/dimensionals. Clean and simple...quick and easy card!



STAMPS: PTI Blooming Button Bits, SU Love You Much
PAPER: Neenah Solar White, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede
INK: Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede
ACCESSORIES: Heart to Heart punch (SU), Creative Memories oval cutter, Dimensionals, Sponge dauber, Kaiser Chocolate pearls, Grosgrain ribbon (SU), Cuttlebug, Dotted Swiss border EF, ScorPal

Bear with me!

I'm taking the plunge into the blogging world and totally starting this ON MY OWN. I have LOTS to learn, so bear with me.