Tuesday, March 31, 2009

JBelle Tuesday challenge and CAS challenge

Hi everyone! Today is Tuesday and that means another Jbelle challenge! This week's challenge is to make a spring card. I know, a repeat... but hey, why not? We are all itchin' for some SPRINGTIME already! LOL!


Like always, you don't need to have JBelle supplies to play, but if you don't have any, you can check out the store and see what strikes your fancy. There is brand new Pink Paislee stuff in the house!!

My card uses the super cute Imaginisce For Peeps Sake Thank You stamp along with Pink Paislee DP. The paper is from the Enchanting line, Delightful page -such cute butterflies!! Here is my opinion on Pink Paislee paper, you all know my first love is Basic Grey, but having this paper is the perfect compliment to BG. It is a bit whimsical and lots of fun colors and patterns. BG tends to be a bit more elegant. I am super thrilled Linds started carrying it!!

Back to the card, nothing says spring like GREEN GALORE! LOL! I just love this green color and was happy to see this DP was a perfect match. The 3 Dew Drops at the bottom are from the Lily Pad bottle. See all that 1/8" organdy ribbon? What a dream! Small and pliable, easy to work with and packs quite a punch! It's from Heidi's store and is very reasonably priced!

Here is a pic of the inside. Decorating the insides is all the rage right now, and I love doing it too. But, I like to keep them really simple like a strip or two of coordinating DP. I like how it leaves plenty of room to write and uses up DP scraps!

If you play along, be sure to use keyword JBE047 when you upload your card so we can find all the lovely Springness in one place. Don't forget to check out the other DT blogs for their spring cards!

AJ Otto--The Willow Garden
Heather Lee-Reppen--
Ink on my Ear
Jill Dunn--
InkGenious
Jennifer Buck--
The Buck Stamps Here
Kimberly O'Rosky--
Sunshiny Days
Kisa Peters--
Kisa's Paper Cuts
Lindsey Botkin--
Embellished
Lynda Benden--
Stamp Act
Maren Benedict--
Zany not Crazy
Melissa Bove--
Creating From the Heart
Taylor Usry--
Musings of an Addict


Like last week, I also have CAS challenge card to share. This week's SCS CAS challenge was to follow a sketch -my fav. I LOVE making CAS cards and this is fast becoming my favorite weekly challenge. I needed some Thank you cards and I about fell out of my chair at the cuteness of this Imaginisce Thank you stamp! So, I hope you all don't get sick of seeing several more. LOL!


This card also uses some of the Pink Paislee paper from Jacksonbelle's store! This paper is from the Office Lingo line. Specifically, the Lunch Hour and Fast Track papers. Again, I colored the flower and leaves with Copics and put an orange gem in the center. The buttons and 1/8" organdy ribbon are both from Heidi's store, Pinkhedgehog Papercrafts. There are 2 scored lines at the bottom of the card, it's a bit hard to see in the pic.

Here is a close up of the details. You can see the scored lines better here.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow cause it's MY turn to post on the Verve Project Parade route!!


Card Deets (JBelle card):
Stamps: Thank you single
Paper: Green Galore, white, DP by Pink Paislee
Ink: Momento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: 1/8" organdy ribbon, MS butterfly punch, mini butterfly punch, CB swiss dots EF, dew drops, Kaiser gems in pink and green

Card Deets (CAS card):
Stamps: Thank you single
Paper: white, DP by Pink Paislee
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx
Accessories: buttons, score-pal, orange gem, 1/8" organdy

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Saturday, March 28, 2009

Back with some challenge cards

Hi everyone! Whew, it's been quite a week here. Not only did Bill get sick, but then Daniel got sick and then ME! Ugh, still recouperating. But I do have a card to share and a couple challenge cards from last week that I didn't get a chance to post.

This card is for this week's Viva La Verve sketch challenge. This week's sketch was a fun one and the twist was to use only a sentiment stamp. PERFECT for all those Verve Plain Jane stamps!! I chose the Plain Jane, Comfort. I embellished it with a couple flowers from the Grateful Elegance set. I embossed the sentiment with white EP and sponged the edges with white kraft.

This card is also for my weekly DDC challenge. This week I hosted the challenge and challenged everyone to a 1,2,3 recipe:

-1 piece of DP (as much or as little as you want, but only one)
-2 pieces of ribbon (any length of either, but must be different)
-3 brads

It was lots of fun! I actually finished the card and realized I only had 1 ribbon! OOPS! So it's hard to see, but I added a piece of white organdy ribbon under the taffeta. Whew, now it's complete!

Anyone can play along with either or both challenges. To play with the Viva La Verve you can check it out here and upload keyword VLVAPR01. To play along with the DDC challenge, follow my 1,2,3 recipe and upload with keyword DDC.

This next card is from last week's Featured Stamper challenge. The Featured Stamper was the UBER talented Beate!! She is an SCS pioneer, an amazing stamper and a super sweet person!I chose this card to case.

I kept the amazing layout, use of punches on the sentiment, piercing and bling. I changed the papers, images, location of piercing and omitted the ticket corners.My image is Flourishes, Signs of Spring. The lovely daffidol is super fun to color. I used a couple copic markers and then went over the bloom with Marigold Shimmerz.


This last card was from last week's SCS Sketch Challenge. I really liked this sketch. This is my second card using it. I love how it utilizes scraps!! I used my new SU stamp from Thoughts and Prayers. Man, oh man, SU got this one right!! The DP is Basic Grey, Periphery. I used some of my beads and a new butterfly charm for the pin. I also glued some beads on each of the flower blooms.


Here is a close up of the pin and beads.

Card Deets:
Viva la Verve card:
Stamps: Comfort, Grateful Elegance
Paper: kraft, blue bayou, baja breeze, Parsian DSP
Ink: versamark, blue bayou, white kraft
Accessories: aged copper brads, white taffeta and organdy, SU scalloped edge, circle nesties

Featured Stamper card:
Stamps: signs of spring
Paper: sahara sand, bashful, delicate dots DSP
Accessories: copic markers, shimmerz, celery twill, bling, SU punches

SCS Sketch Challenge card:
Stamps: thoughts and prayers
Paper: artichoke, soft sky, periphery
Ink: mellow moss, baja breeze
Accessories: Misc beads and pearls, bead pin, earing back, paper piercer, light aqua organdy ribbon

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

JBelle Tuesday challenge and a CAS challenge card

Hi everyone! Today is Tuesday and that means another Jbelle challenge! This week's challenge is to make a spring card. There is a focus on using rub-ons. I am plum all out of rub-ons, but I can do spring!!

Everyone is invited to play along. You don't need to have JBelle supplies to play, but if you don't have any, you can check out the store and see what strikes your fancy.


My card uses the super cute Imaginisce Twitterpated bird stamp along with Imaginisce Fairest of them All DP. I colored the birdie with Copic markers and then painted her with Bubble Gum Shimmerz. The 3 Dew Drops at the bottom are from the Island Blossom bottle.

If you play along, be sure to use keyword JBE045 when you upload your card so we all can find it.

Don't forget to check out the other DT blogs for their spring cards!

Heather Lee-Reppen--Ink on my Ear
Jill Dunn--InkGenious
Jennifer Buck--The Buck Stamps Here
Kimberly O'Rosky--Sunshiny Days
Kisa Peters--Kisa's Paper Cuts
Lindsey Botkin--Embellished
Lynda Benden--Stamp Act
Maren Benedict--Zany not Crazy


I also have another card to share. This card is for this week's SCS CAS challenge which was to use punches on your card. I LOVE making CAS cards using punches!! Makes it simple, quick and easy -just punch, stamp a sentiment and you are good to go!

I was tempted to bust out my butterfly punches, but since I just got SUs 5 Petal flower punch, I knew I HAD to use it. I also used SUs scallop border and boho blossom punches. All the paper on the card is from Basic Grey Bittersweet as is the jumbo glazed brad. The sentiment is from Verve's Asian Flair. I painted the flowers with Angel Wings Shimmerz.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Deets (JBelle card):
Stamps - Imaginisce Twitterpated birdie
Paper - white, wild wasabi, Twitterpated Fairest of Then All
Accessories - circle nesties, pink grosgrain, copic markers, shimmerz, dew drops, white gel pen, scalloped border punch

Card Deets (CAS card):
Stamps: Asian Flair
Paper: white, Bittersweet
Ink: close to cocoa
Accessories: BG glazed brad, su scallop punch, 5 petal punch, boho blossom punch, shimmerz

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Dirty Dozen challenge -to remake your oldest card!

I mentioned yesterday that I finally had a chance to play along with the monthly Dirty Dozen Alum challenge! This month was hosted by Holly (Toy) and she challenged us to find the oldest card in our gallery (or at least one from our first page of uploads)... and to CASE it! WHOA! Have you all checked out the oldest card in your gallery lately? If it's anything like mine, man I have come along way!!

Here are the challenge rules:
Challenge Focus: A CASE of one of your oldest cards.
Required Element: Change at least three things on your card (subtle).
Restricted Element: None! The sky is the limit on this one!!
Keyword: DCFSC0309

Are you ready to see it?

Here it is! My first SCS upload. Full disclosure, about a year ago I deleted several of my first cards -they were stinkers, trust me! So technically this may have not been my very first upload. But, it's the oldest one in my gallery now!

Lookie there... WOW! I actually colored the "frosting" parts with a colored pen! And see those corners and side piece? I hand cut those with scissors -this card was PRE all my fun toys, ribbon and punches!! Oh man, there is no framing on the image panel at all. heehee!

...And, here is my remake. I kept the general feel of the card. Kept the purple frame, stripes in pastel colors, the cupcakes and general layout. I don't have that stamp set anymore, so I used Verve's Cupcake Affair set and the sentiment is from Birthday Surprise. I popped up the frosting pieces, added a mini flower punch, bling and stickles on them. I also used some ribbon and tiny primas with bling to adorn the side.

So, I think I succeded. You can still see the old card inspiration in there, but it is updated with a bit more layers, ribbon and bling! This was a blast. Be sure to click on the keyword link at the top and check out all the other Dirty Girls who played along. It's always fun to see the early cards!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Card Deets:
Stamps - Cupcake Affair, Birthday Surprise
Paper - Almost Amethyst, certainly celery, pretty in pink, misc striped DP
Ink - same as above, creamy caramel and black
Accessories - pink grosgrain, primas, bling, stickles, mini flower punch, corner punch

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Birthday card for Bill

Hi everyone! I have a card to share from yesterday's SCS sketch challenge. I didn't post it yesterday, cause it's for Bill's birthday which is tomorrow. He will be pretty busy at work today, so I think it's safe to post and he won't see it! LOL!

I ALWAYS have such a hard time making cards for Bill. This is silly, I know, as he LOVES everything I make. But I feel like it should be extra special and not something he has "seen before". Again, silly! I'm not sure he can remember all the cards I make like I can -LOL!

Anyway, the sketch helped me out and for the stamps, I turned to Verve's Father Figure. I just love the masculine font of the Father, Husband and Dad and the sentiments are so wonderful for that guy in your life. I used Basic Grey Granola for the DP and the buttons. Again, this paper pack is my first "go to" when it comes to masculine cards. The burlap string pieces are from Pinkhedgehog Papercrafts.

Thanks for stopping by and come back tomorrow, I will be showing a card for the Dirty Dozen Alumni monthly challenge. Since I became an alum in November, I haven't had a chance to play along. It was lots of fun this month -you all will get a kick out of it!

Card Deets:
Stamps: father figure
Paper: choc chip, white, Basic Grey Granola
Ink: choc chip, buckaroo blue (for sponging )
Accessories: SU large and small star punch, burlap string and buttons


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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Jacksonbelle Tuesday challenge

Hi everyone! Today is Tuesday, and that means another Jbelle challenge! This week's challenge is to CASE my fellow JBelle Rockstar Kisa! WooHoo! A couple weeks ago you all were challenged to case Kim, this week it's Kisa's turn! AND be sure to check out the tutorial she wrote! It is up on the Jacksonbelle Blog.

Everyone is invited to play along. You don't need to have JBelle supplies to play, but if you don't have any, you can check out the store and see what strikes your fancy -Lindsey just put all her Shimmerz on sale 15% off now thru Friday + 6 NEW colors are in stock!!

To play you can go to Kisa's SCS gallery, find a card and CASE it -which means to use it as your inspiration and change a couple things to make it your own. Be sure to use the SCS keyword JBE044, so we can find all your creations.

I chose this card to case. I liked it so much I made 2!! I have been likin' the CAS lately, so this card grabbed me right away. I kept the same use of white with simple framing and piercing. I changed the colors, image and added a sentiment and piercing at the bottom.

My first card is made with Inkadinkado, Wedding set (which is back in stock now). My second card is made with the new Inkadinkado Morphic Birds set and the sentiment is from PaperTrey Ink's Birthday Basics. All the primas are painted with Angel Wings Shimmerz for that extra shine!!


Don't forget to check out the other DT blogs for their Kisa inspired cards!

Card Deets:
Stamps - Wedding, Morphic Birds
Paper - white, groovy guava and Prismpaper Blush Red Dark
Accessories - rectangle nesties, green bling, paper piercer

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

For Stacy

Did you all see who is today's Featured Stamper? One of my stamping friends, Stacy (Twinshappy)!! I have been chatting and exchanging images with Stacy since I first found SCS. She was a great sounding board when I was going thru potty training H E double toothpicks! Remember that Stac??

I chose this lovely Flourishes card to case. I changed the designer paper used, color scheme, and image. But, I kept the same cute layout!! I colored the bunny with copic markers and pieced all the eggs from the solid sheets in the DP pack. The image and sentiment are from Verve's newly released Chocolate Bunnies. The DP is Basic Grey Urban Prairie. The ribbon is from the Dollar Tree, I have had it forEVER waiting for the right shade of pink to match it with!! And this tricky pink in Urban Prairie was a perfect match.

This card is also for this week's Doubledog Dare Challenge. This week, Francie G challenged us all to make a spring card but it must have a bunny image on it! I was so happy to get this challenge, the new Verve releases have lots of bunnies to chose from! Anyone is welcome to play with the DDC, just be sure to use keyword DDC when uploading so we can find your creations!

P.S. Where has Momento Black ink been all my life? I got lucky enough to find a pack of 4 Memento dew drops (rich cocoa, tuxedo black, lady bug and cottage ivy) at my local Js on sale 40% off! Had to try it out and I am so glad I did. This ink is so lovely, a crisp clean image and perfect for Copics. Much better than Adirondack (imho).

Card Deets:
Stamps: chocolate bunnies
Paper: regal rose, so safron, urban prairie
Ink: memento black, so safron for sponging
Accessories: grosgrain ribbon, misc gems, copic markers


Thanks for stopping by.
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Saturday, March 14, 2009

Brace yourselves ladies...

Just in case anyone needed convincing to buy April's issue of GQ magazine. I give you a peek of a couple pictures from the GQ photo shoot.

This is the cover sans the words



This is so reminiscent of James Dean it hurts
Well, words escape me
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Viva La Verve with a birthday twist and a white frame

Man there are so many wonderful challenges out there and my favorite are sketches! Have you all had a chance to check out the weekly Viva La Verve sketch challenges? They all have a twist of some kind and this week's twist is to make a birthday card. How fun! For those who play along each week, there is a chance to win some free Verve!

My card also follows Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge #78 to use white cardstock as a frame of your image. The image is from Verve's newly released set, Miracles Blossom and the sentiment is from Circular Sayings. I love how the sentiment can also be used on the 1/2 circle as well as on a full circle -double the ways to use it!!

I colored the image with copic markers and went over some of the blooms and leaves with Angel Wings Shimmerz. The super cute cardstock is the new DCWV Citrus Pack -gotta love the fun colors! Here is a close up of the blooms.

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for a pic or two of Robward. All I am saying is... THUD!

Card Deets:
Stamps: miracles blossom, circular sayings
Paper: white, tempting turquoise, citrus pack DP
Ink: adirondack pitch black
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie grosgrain, orange bling, copic markers, angel wings shimmerz



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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Lots of Verve to share

Hi everyone!! Have you all have a chance to check out the new release from Verve Stamps this month? It was a BIG one -8 new stamp sets and 5 Plain Janes. Julee's largest yet! I have several samples to share with you.

This card uses the Plain Jane, Little Star. Plain Jane stamps are single stamps which are very reasonably priced. I SOOOOO love this stamp. Most of you know I am in a mom's group and I can see this stamp getting LOTS of use!

The card started out with Julee's Mojo77 sketch, but I couldn't make it work so it morphed into this. I love working with star punches, I think they bring so much to a card and the stars on the image are perfection in my book! Also, I am lovin' the Top Note pieces. I don't own that die, so a big thank you to WishRAK!! Here is a peek at the inside.

Card Deets:
Stamps - Little Star plain jane
Ink - Wild Wasabi, bashful blue (both SU!)
Paper - Bashful blue, Sahara Sand, Certainly Celery, Delicate Dots DP (all SU!)
Accessories - Top Note die, Small star punch and celery twill (all SU!), mini star punch, circle nestabilities (Spellbinder), Stardust stickles (Ranger)


This card uses the set, Everlasting Life. What an amazing set. Such elegant fonts, designs and sentiments. I just received my big SU order, so I had to bust into the Rasberry Tart DP! LOVE it! I think I am jinxed when it comes to sketches, I tried to use Jen's SFYTT, but it didn't work exactly. But, it came close enough, so I will call it good! The black brads, ribbon and button are from Pinkhedgehog papercrafts.

I couldn't fit the sentiment on the outside, so here is a peek at the inside.

Card Deets:

Stamps - Everlasting Life
Paper - Cameo Coral, white, black, Rasberry Tart DP
Accessories - rectangle nesties, black brads, copic markers, angel wings shimmerz, black dotted organdy ribbon, button


This card uses the set, Practically Perfect. Look at this cutie? I love this set. It's all about babies and there is something for everyone in the sentiments. Super duper cute!!

Card Deets:
Stamps: practically perfect
Paper: pretty in pink, barely banana, DCWV Nana's nursery
Accessories: pink taffeta, primas, brads, labels one nesties



This last card uses the set, Miracles Blossom and the sentiment is from Circular Sayings. I used some of the new Basic Grey, Porceline -what delicate colors it has! I just love these flowers Julee designed with these sets. Lots of possibilities.

Card Deets:
Paper - Blush Blossom (SU!), Desert Coral Light paper (Prismpaper), Porceline DP (Basic Grey), white
Ink - Cameo Coral, River Rock and Close to Cocoa (all SU!)Accessories - SU saffron brads, various primas, Saffron 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, double edged tag (spellbinders), swiss dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

Thanks for stopping by!


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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

MY REMODELED STAMPING AREA!

Woohoo! My dream stamping space is finally finished! Deep breath! A big thank you to Heidi (Pinkhedgehog) and IKEA -I couldn't have done it without you!! LOL! Warning, this is a long post! You can click on each picture for a closer look. At the very bottom, I will list the names and prices of the items I bought. Which I found extremely helpful for me when I was scouring SCS for ideas! Also, I apologize in advance for the spacing around my pictures.

Edited to add: My stamping area is not in a room by itself with a door. It is at one end of the dining/family great room. When I swing to the side, I face the boys play area and the TV. I can stamp and keep an eye on the boys in the day and stamp and watch Lost at night!!

Well, here is what I started with. My old stamping space was a corner of the dining/family room. I had an L shape space with about 6' on each wall. It was crowded but efficient. I literally sat and stamped surrounded by stuff. I plain and simply OUT GREW IT! See the corner of the buffet on the bottom left corner? That is the piece of furnitue that my mom took... it freed up the entire wall for me!


Here is the wall blank. Notice the BIG 6' long window (covered up by a curtain)? That really limited what I could do as far as height, shelving, etc. But, hey I'll take it!!





Drum roll please... here is the new space! Oh, heaven! I went with 2 IKEA desks side by side. Sturdy, inexpensive and efficient.






I'll start with the far left of my area and go clockwise. Here is my glass shelving for my primas. I got the matching glass jars at IKEA (packs of 4). The glass shelves are 4" deep and 3' long. Notice I am ALL out of space already? I asked Bill what was I gonna do when I bought my next jar of primas and he looked at me like, "WHY would you need any MORE?" LOL!






So I bought the wooden box shelves to the right from IKEA, these hold some Capodimonte pieces right now, but they are "earmarked" for more primas! They are shown in the top picture. Here is a close up of the shelves. Aren't they purty?



Next we have a pic of the left desk. These are from the Jonas collection. I needed something that didn't have lots of computer type stuff built in since I was primarily using it for table space.

This desk has a pull out arm, giving me an extra several feet of space when I need it. And I can slide it in when I don't! Man IKEA does it right when it comes to space efficiency!







Here is a picture of under the desk. Since I couldn't go up, I needed to use EVERY inch of under the window. I still have an undermount light to install. But, you can see that I have my 12x12 and 8 1/2x11 paper storage, all my clear stamps, loose stamps, all my brads, buttons and pretties. Everything fits nicely and still room for my feet!



Here is the right desk. This one came with a cabinet attachment. The top is a drawer and the bottom is a door. Lots of stuff fits in there! See those white box/drawer things? They are cardboard type self assemble and on sale at IKEA for $3 each! Can't beat that!




Also under the desk is my filing cabinet that stores all my cardstock. I sort it by color family and alpha within each. I got the fancy labels from EBay for a few bucks. I love it, cause I can see the color and the name. I keep my scraps behind the full sheets in manilla folders.




Here is my pegboard system! I got the idea for the entire system from Heidi! The ribbons are stored in vinyl gutters from Lowes (not sold at Home Depot). You drill some holes in them and hang them on the pegboard! Isn't it purty? I have them cut the biggest I could which is 39" across. I have 4 now, but plenty left over, so if I need to expand, I can. See the cards at the top? Now I have room for my RAKs!! I hung a dowel and put the cards over it. I intend to get another piece cut larger later, but for now I fit 7 cards on this side.





What I LOVE about pegboard, is if you need to move something you can. Just pop off the pegs and move it! Here is a close up of my ribbon rings and the gutter. I painted the pegboard to match my wall (even the screws), so it blends in a bit.





Here is the other wall. I already had this piece of countertop installed on the wall and kept it. I removed the old shelving on the left and replaced it with more pegboard. I kept the shelving on the right and added an undermount light so I can see what I am cutting when I stamp at night. The light is from IKEA called RANTA. Underneath the countertop is perfect for storage for those "leftover" things.

On this side of pegboard, I have all my punches and more RAKs! Again, I painted it to match the wall. Below it I have my 12x12 DP storage, my cuttlebug and accessories.

So that's it! Whew! I told you it was a long post. Here are some details of the items:
Jonas desks, IKEA -$140 ea
Glass shelves, Lowes - $15 ea
Glass jars, IKEA - $3 for 4 pack
Pegboard -$17
Pegboard misc assortment of accessories -$2.50
Gutters, Lowes - $7 for 10ft
Gutter end caps, Lowes - around $2 ea
Cafe curtain rods, Bed Bath & Beyond -$7 ea
Thanks for stopping by! Coming up tomorrow a post with all my Verve release cards made thus far! Julee outdid herself with this release with 8 sets and 5 Plain Janes!


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