Tuesday, December 1, 2009

And as the year comes to an end...

I haven't had much time lately to do any stamping.  Things in life are, as always, hectic.  My 20th high school reunion was a couple of weeks ago, and I had such a wonderful time catching up with old friends and reconnecting with people.  I don't care what anyone says, Facebook is a blessing!

At this time in my life, I have come to the realization that life is just too damn short; too short to be living miserably; too short not to make the best of it.  So, there is change on the horizon.  I anticipate a rollercoaster of emotions forthcoming.  It's not going to be easy, that is for sure, but in the end, I have to do what is best for me.  I've learned that, hey what?  It's ok to think of yourself first once in a while.  My feelings do matter.  I don't have to do what other people think is right for me, or for my family because in the end, I know what is right for me.  No one else. 

I know I sound like I'm rambling, and I know I don't normally post anything other than happy little card creations, but I've been inspired and needed to unload my thoughts somewhere. 

One of these days, I may actually get back into my crafting.  It is, after all, a great pressure reliever, but until then, I will be busy with work, children & family and just the everyday chaos of this crazy life. 

Be well, my friends.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Anniversary Card


Here is an anniversary card I made.  It's largely based on Dawn McVey's card seen here.  I just switched up the colors and the main damask stamp.  This set is called Damask Designs by Papertrey Ink and was actually designed by Dawn, who I got to meet briefly at CHA this summer.  Love those girls at Papertrey - they really are Class A people!

Recipe:

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink Damask Designs
Paper: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, SU! Pink Pirouette, Curious Metallics Poison Ivory
Ink: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate
Accessories: Ribbon, pink crystal

Friday, September 18, 2009

A Harvest Card in Non-Traditional Colours



Here's a harvest/Thanksgiving card that was in the batch of cards going to my friend Victoria for her friend.  I had coloured the image a little while back and was happy with the way it came out.  I decided to use colours that are not the traditional fall colours in order to bring out the yellow in the corn and the blue halo around the image. 

Recipe:

Stamps:  SU!
Ink:  Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  SU!'s Retired Cool Caribbean, Papertrey's Lemon Tart cardstock and patterened paper, Neenah Classic Crest - Solar White
Accessories:  Gamsol, Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, Prismacolor pencils, blending stumps, Papertrey's ribbon in Lemon Tart, dimensionals

Thursday, September 17, 2009

One more for the Whiff of Joy Guest Designer call...



Here is my third and final entry for the Whiff of Joy Guest Designer call. This is Willow with hot chocolate from Whiff of Joy. I love her! She's a lot of fun to color. She was colored using Gamsol and Faber-Castell polychromos colored pencils, which is my favorite way to color. I can almost smell the hot cocoa in her cup! This is a card that is going to my friend Victoria, along with the cards in the last two posts and the cards that will be seen in two future posts. She has a friend who is going to be deployed, so she is compiling a few cards for him to take on his deployment for he and his fellow troops to send home. They're on their way today V!

Recipe:
Stamps: Whiff of Joy, SU!
Ink: Tsukinedo Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Bashful Blue, Papertrey Ink White, patterned paper
Accessories: Gamsol, Faber-Castell polychromos colored pencils, crystal embellishment, Plaid Extreme Glitter in Hologram

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Whiff of Joy - Guest Designer Call - 2nd Entry


As you can see by my previous post, Whiff of Joy is having their guest designer call. If you'd like to try out to be one of their guest designers, there is still time to get your entry in!

Here's my second entry. Isn't she sweet? (Aren't they all!) This is Lizzie, all nice and warm for the winter.

I had a lot of fun coloring her, but my favorite part is the flocking on her ear muffs, muff, and boots! This image is perfect for flock!

Recipe:
Stamps: Whiff of Joy, SU!
Paper: Shimmery White, Bashful Blue, patterned paper
Ink: Tsukineko Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Flocking, glue pen, mini pom-poms, ribbon, Gamsol, Faber-Castell polychromos colored pencils, blending stumps




Thursday, September 3, 2009

Whiff of Joy Stamps - Guest Designer Call




Whiff of Joy Stamps is having a Guest Designer Call for the end of September, October and November and I would love to be a designer, wouldn't you? For more information about applying to be a Guest Designer check out Katharina's Blog.


I love Whiff of Joy Stamps. Their images are so sweet and unique! Here's my latest creation. This is Melinda the helping angel. I just adore the Guardian Angel collection. How can you have just one?
Recipe
Stamps: Whiff of Joy, Sentiment: SU!
Paper: SU! Almost Amethyst, Patterned Paper, Neenah Classic Crest - Solar White
Ink: Tsukinedo Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Gamsol, Prismacolor Pencils, Blending Stumps, Plaid Glitter Paint - Holograph, SU! Ribbon

Friday, July 17, 2009

A Card for a Friend



I have an internet friend who has really been going through a tough time lately battling cancer, as well as knee surgery and complications which have arisen recently. She's a wonderful person from what I know of her through the internet and her posts are always well thought out and respectful. She's really been dealt a lot and I admire her grace through all that she has endured, and continues to endure. I made this card for her, in hopes to brighten her day, even if just a teeny bit!

I got to play with a new product that I recently picked up - Plaid's FolkArt Extreme Glitter in Hologram. O. M. G! I *heart* this stuff!!! After I stamped the flowers and colored them with Copics and Prismacolor markers, I painted all of them with this Extreme Glitter and WOW! What an effect! It dries fast (a few minutes), the paper doesn't curl, the glitter stays put - it reminds me of cardstock that comes pre-glittered - the kind that doesn't fall off the paper. I love it and will definitely be using it again in the future, I even went out and picked it up in silver, black and gold - can't wait to find some time to play with those too!

Recipe
Stamps: SU!
Paper: Shimmery White, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Prismacolor Premiere Markers, Plaid's FolkArt Extreme Glitter in Holograph (painted on all the flowers - love this stuff!!!), ribbon, self-stick gems

Thursday, July 16, 2009

More fab images from Whiff of Joy!


Isn't she cute? I just love this little girl from Whiff of Joy. Her name is Willow. The tree stump is a separate stamp, so I stamped Willow first, then masked her and stamped the tree stump over her. Images are colored with my all time favorite technique - Gamsol and colored pencils. The card measures 5 1/4" x 5 1/4".

Recipe
Stamps: Whiff of Joy, Sentiment by SU!
Paper: Ruby Red, Certainly Celery by SU!, Neenah Classic Crest paper, patterned paper
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Faber-Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils, Gamsol, dimensionals, clip

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

I had colored this image some time ago, and had it sitting on my desk waiting to be turned into a card. I finally got around to it!

Recipe:
Stamps: SU!
Paper: Lavender Lace, Shimmery White, patterned paper
Ink: StazOn Jet Black
Accessories: Punch, SU! Ribbon, Dimensionals, Gamsol, Prismacolor Pencils, blending stumps

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Blog Candy at...

Ann Clack's Blog

An internet buddy of mine is offering blog candy on her site. So for a chance at blog candy, and an opportunity to view some of this talented artist's creations, pop on over and visit Ann!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

A Brand New Whiff of Joy Image




Here's a brand new Whiff of Joy image from their newly shipped Summer 09 Stamp Kit. This image is called "Willow in the summer Breeze". Isn't she adorable? I had picked up a pad of paper from Joann's called "The Sweet Stack", and one of the patterns went perfectly with Willow's outfit. This card was sent to my friend Victoria for her birthday. (and yes, it was sent late, but I'm getting a lot closer to my friend's birthdays; I was only a week off this time!)


Recipe:
Stamps: Whiff of Joy
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: DCWV "The Sweet Stack" patterned paper, SU! Gable Green, Regal Rose, Neenah Classic Crest - Avalanche White
Accessories: Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, Gamsol, blending stumps, Stickles, SU! Dimensionals, SU! Ribbon, rik-rak rub-on


Friday, June 5, 2009

A card floating across the pond...

I made this card for my friend Helen, who lives in England. It was her birthday in the beginning of the month (ok, so not as late as I normally am!) I thought this image by Penny Black was perfect, since Helen likes cats and this one was floating across the pond to her to wish her a Happy (belated) Birthday!



Recipe:
Stamps: Penny Black, Inkadinkadoo
Ink: Adirondack Jet Black
Paper: SU! Bashful Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Georgia Pacific, patterned paper
Accessories: Copic markers, Sakura Gelly Roll clear sparkle pen, crystal embellishments

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Another birthday card...


Ok, so I've been pretty good about getting all of these birthday cards out, right? Better late than never? Alright, I stink at being on time for birthday cards. I don't know why. This was another belated birthday card for my internet buddy, Carol. I'm only a month late on this one... ok, a month and a half... alright almost 2 months. Anyway, the bear and presents are from Darcie's. They have some very cute, country style stamps. They also have some cool little kit projects on their website that you may want to check out. I don't know if you can tell by the photo, but the arm, paw and presents are all "popped up" by a Dimensional.



Recipe:
Stamps: Darcie's, Inkadinkadoo
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black, Regal Rose
Paper: Georgia Pacific, SU! Regal Rose, Barely Banana, patterned paper
Accessories: Nesties, Copic markers, SU! scallop edge punch, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, glue pen, miscellaneous ribbon, SU! Dimensionals

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Let's get a little crazy!





I made this card for another internet buddy of mine. Shanon is an awesome person with a "bubbly" personality & I really wanted to make a fun card for her. I got to playing with these stamps from Rubbernecker and this was the end result! (I only wish I would have gotten this to her sooner; her birthday was months ago! Sorry Shanon!)

Recipe:
Stamps: Rubbernecker, Inkadinkadoo, Impression Obsession (the lime)
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black
Paper: Georgia Pacific, SU! Regal Rose, patterned paper from the Dollar Spot at Target
Accessories: Black Tombow marker, Prismacolor Premier & Copic markers, Sakura Gelly Roll clear sparkle pen, Stickles, ribbon from SU!

Monday, June 1, 2009

I got ya' fahkin' labstahs right here!




I've got a good friend who sometimes works in Boston and she was telling me about how the Boston natives pronounce "lobsters". I was cracking up at her description. To type it out phonetically, she typed something along the lines of "labstah". Somehow a certain expletive was added, and they became the "fahkin' labstahs" (I hope you're not offended!) Anyway, I made this card for her because she cracks me up everyday and I appreciate her humor and her personality. Love ya' Jane!




Recipe:
Stamps: Impression Obsession, SU!
Ink: Adirondack Jet Black, Rose Red
Paper: Curious Metallics Ice Gold, SU! Rose Red, Cool Caribbean
Accessories: Prismacolor colored pencils, Gamsol, blending stumps, Cuttlebug Embossing folder, SU! ribbon, stick pin from Joann's

Friday, May 29, 2009

More Whiff of Joy



Here's another card from the day my stampin' mojo decided to come back. This is another adorable image from Whiff of Joy. I cannot get enough of their images & their Summer Stamp kit arrived about a week or so ago, and now I have even more adorable images to color! This image is called "Melinda Hugging Heart" and is from their Fall 2008 collection. This card was made for my Shiner drinkin' Texan friend, Elizabeth for her birthday.

Recipe:

Stamps: Whiff of Joy, Inkadinkaoo

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black, SU! Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose

Paper: Georgia Pacific (white), patterned paper from Target's Dollar Spot

Accessories: Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils, Gamsol, blending stumps, sponges, crystal flowers, grosgrain ribbon from SU!, Stickles

Friday, May 15, 2009

Asian Flair



So I will admit, I'm not all that into the asian look. I don't know why, it just never really appealed to me, but I did get an asian feeling with this dragonfly image from Rubbernecker. I'd had some washi paper for the longest time, so I paired it with a simple distressed looking piece of lime patterned paper from Basic Grey and came up with this.




I also created the little hand-made paper beads by cutting two long, narrow triangular strips and rolling them around a piece of jute. A little dab of glue, and there you have it - home-made asian inspired paper beads.


Recipe:
Stamps: Rubbernecker, SU!
Paper: SU! Brocade Blue, Georgia Pacific, Basic Grey, washi paper
Ink: Adirondack Jet Black, Versafine Black, SU! Close to Cocoa, Artichoke
Accessories: Copic Markers, Jute, Stickles, sponges




Here comes the rain!



April showers bring May flowers? Not in SWFL they don't! Because it doesn't start raining here until the end of May. And we finally had our first big rainfall this week. Appropriate to break out this sweet Whiff of Joy image!

Recipe:
Stamps: Whiff of Joy, SU!
Paper: Bashful Blue, Shimmery White, patterned paper
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Faber-Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils, Gamsol, Sakura Gelly Roll clear sparkle pen, clip by Making Memories


Well, I don't know what came over me, but it looks like I've got my stampin' mojo back. I've been on a roll lately! It started when I realized I hadn't followed through on my New Year's Resolution of sending hand-made cards to my internet buddies on their birthdays. So I finally just sat down with a list of who I owed cards to and started working! I caught up on my Pondie birthday cards, plus about 6 more!

I am just in love with Whiff of Joy stamps, thanks to my internet buddy Christine! (You enabler, you!) Expect to see more of them in the next few posts. They are such unique designs and just so sweet! I like my little girl and boy images to have noses and mouths, thank you very much. ;-)
Hope you like this one!

Recipe:

Stamps: Whiff of Joy, SU!
Paper: SU! Almost Amethyst, Barely Banana, Shimmery White, patterned paper
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Faber-Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils, Gamsol, blending stumps, SU! markers, pop-dots, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Gelly Roll clear sparkle pen (on her hair)

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Well, it's been a while, to say the least. I've been working on this card for months. I have a very dear group of internet friends who I've corresponded with for a few years now, and every once in a while, I like to RAK them. There's a joke about how I've got a thing for cupcakes, which was actually started because of a nasty comment left on a nasty person's blog about me. We sort of laughed it off as ignorance and I embraced the cupcake thing. Anyway, I finally finished a batch of 22 cards and mailed them out this week!

Recipe

Stamps: Inkadinkadoo
Ink: Tsukineko Tuxedo Black
Paper: SU! Pirouette Pink, Whisper White, Cool Caribbean (they have to know I loved them if I've used up nearly my entire stash of one of my favorite retired SU! colours!) Patterned paper is DCWV
Accessories: SU! Pirouette Pink striped grosgrain ribbon, Stickles, Dimensionals, Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, Goo Gone, blending stumps

Monday, February 2, 2009

Happy Birthday to my Dad!



Let's face it - reaching 70 years old is quite a feat. My Dad managed to accomplish this on Saturday & I wanted to make him a special card. He's a funny guy, my Dad. He's a little French guy from the island St. Pierre et Miquelon, the last French owned territory located near Newfoundland. He loves good food, good wine and good company. This little fat chef from SU!'s VoilĂ  just seemed to fit him. I was inspired by this card from SCSer BabblingBrooks


RECIPE

STAMPS: VoilĂ , Sincere Salutations, Classic Numbers
PAPER: Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
INK: Palette Noir
ACCESSORIES: Goo Gone (instead of Gamsol), Faber-Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils, Blending Stumps, Dimensionals, Ribbon

Friday, January 23, 2009

A New Year's Resolution...


A belated Happy New Year! So, in trying to actually stamp more often, I have decided that my New Year's Resolution for 2009 is to get a stamped birthday card out to my stampin' SCS sisters. Since my friend Kathy's birthday is in January, hers was the first card to actually get completed.
I actually treated myself to some new Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils and had a blast coloring this fabulous image that was sent to me by an internet friend, Chris (Audris_Mom on SCS) I am now a fanatic of Whiff of Joy stamps!
RECIPE
STAMPS: Whiff of Joy - Angel Image, SU! - sentiment
INK: Adirondack Jet Black
PAPER: Papertrey White, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Pirouette Pink, patterned paper
ACCESSORIES: Heart eyelets, silver cord, Stickles, Gamsol, Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, envelope punch, square punches


Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Whiff of Joy - Elisabeth Bell Blog Candy Giveaway

One of my new fave stamp artists is having a blog candy give-away! Elisabeth Bell, who designs for Whiff of Joy stamps is giving away a lovely little package! Click HERE for details!