A few cards today...

First off, a bit of sad news. As some of you know, I was 6 weeks pregnant. I just found out Tuesday that I had a miscarriage, so it has been a difficult few days for both Adam and me. I'm taking today off work because I am exhausted, both physically and emotionally. I have read a lot of literature that it was probably for the best, something may have been wrong with the baby. That's true, but it really doesn't make you feel any better. I can be thankful, though, that it happened now and not 6 or 10 weeks from now. Hopefully the next time around we will have a happier ending. :) Now on to some thank you cards that are for my supportive family.
The above card is for my mother and father-in-law. They have been great, giving us phone calls and bringing us dinner, so I wanted to thank them.

The base of the card is Kraft cardstock, layered with chocolate chip, then Old Olive prints paper that is stamped with the Sanded background in old olive ink. The chocolate chip strip of cardstock was crumpled for a distressed look. Earth Elements buttons are tied with hemp twine. Image is stamped on whisper white with Stazon Black ink and colored with Copic markers. That panel is mounted on More Mustard, Really Rust, and Chocolate chip. I used the Tag Corner punch and Vintage Brads also. The 'Hello' is from Lots of Thoughts (SAB set) and is stamped on more mustard cardstock and punched out with the Round Tab Punch.

This card is for my sister. She took me shopping and out for lunch yesterday to keep me busy. If you're reading this, Kristen, "yoooooo-hoooooooo!" (It's an inside joke :) )

The base of the card is Bashful Blue cardstock, and the patterned paper is new from Making Memories. Hero Arts owl is stamped in Basic Black craft ink on Whisper White and embossed with clear embossing powder. He is colored in with Copic markers and punched out with the Fiskars 2" circle punch, and mounted on a Pretty in Pink scallop circle. The scallops are paper pierced. I used my Slot punch on the stip of patterned paper, then a piece of Chocolate Chip Poly-twill ribbon from SU. The alphabet stickers are from my scrapbooking stash.

Thanks for stopping by today. :)

Can you tell me how to get....

....how to get to Sesame Street? Ok, now who didn't love Sesame Street when they were a kid? I sure did! Today my good friend Stephanie is having her daughters 1 year birthday party, so what a better excuse to buy an Elmo stamp? This stamp is made by Stampabilities and I found it at Hobby Lobby. I stamped him in Basic Black Craft ink and embossed with Clear Embossing powder. I cut off the corners with the Tag Corner Punch and sponged the edges in Real Red ink. I matted him on a layer of Pumpkin Pie, then Real Red. The pretty in pink patterned paper is from the Prints Pack (hostess). The base of the card is Real Red cardstock, wheeled with the Nursery letters wheel in Real Red ink. Ribbon is Pretty in Pink taffeta. Elmo is colored in with Copic Markers. The birthday sentiment is from the SU set, Hugs and Wishes.
Next up is a card I'm doing for a swap on splitcoaststampers.com. This particular one is closed, but if you want to check out other swaps, look here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=9

This set is a cute little set I ordered from MFT called 'Baby First'. You can purchase this set here: http://www.mftstamps.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=7&products_id=48

The base of this card is Chocolate Chip cardstock, layered with Sage Shadow that is stamped with the Polka Dot background stamp in Sage Shadow Ink. The main panel of the card is Apricot Appeal paper from the Prints Pack (hostess), layered on Chocolate Chip. The ribbon is SU's new chocolate chip poly-twill ribbon from the Spring mini catalog. The corners are embellished with vintage brads. The main image is stamped with Basic Black ink on Whisper White cardstock and colored in with SU Stampin' Write markers. The sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink and the panel is mounted on Dimensionals.

That's all for now! I need to get ready to brave the snow for the birthday party. Stay tuned, within the next couple of days, I will have details on 3 upcoming classes I have in March. Stay warm!

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, I had made a Valentine's day card for Adam last month, but after I ordered the Twisted Sentiments set from MFT http://www.mftstamps.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_26 , I just had to use it for a card! The above picture is the front of the card, and the sentiment stamp is a dollar stamp I found at my LSS. The red DP is from the SU hostess prints pack, and the other black and white DP is from KI memories, I believe. I used the Word Window punch to make the two brackets on the side, then embellished with red brads. Sentiment is stamped with Real Red ink and heart is by Heidi Swapp.

This sketch challenge is from Jen's blog here: http://iheart2stamp.com/2008/02/09/saturdays-sketch-for-you-to-try-2/

Here's the inside of the card. When I bought this MFT set, I totally forgot that I had this Penny Black dog stamp that would go perfectly with it. Don't you love it when that happens? The doggie is colored in with Copic markers.

Thanks for looking!

Moxxie Samples

A couple weeks ago, I was asked by one of my friends to design some cards with some of the new Moxxie paper. If you haven't heard of Moxxie, they are a scrapbooking supply company that's based here in my hometown in Iowa. Their website is here: http://www.gotmoxxie.com/catalog/index.php

The above card uses their new "Do it Yourself" line which is really cool for masculine cards.

Supply list:
Paper - Kraft and Moxxie ruler striped paper
Stamps - Polka dots and Paisley (SU)
Ink - Versamark
Other - tag and Dymo label maker

This project is a 2-5-7-10 box made from the "Under the big top" line. The tutorial can be found here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/index.php/resources/tutorials/2_5_7_10_box/

I also used a chipboard star covered with patterned paper and SU's real red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon to accent the front.
This last card uses the new "Filly" line, which is my absolute favorite! This paper would also look awesome with some of the SU western sets. The base of this card is close to cocoa, then I stamped over the horse DP with my Sanded background stamp. The sentiment is from the Always set, and the heart is heidi swapp. Scalloped punch by Marvy Uchida and ribbon from Stampin' Up! Thanks for looking!

A Polka-Dotted Challenge

Today on www.splitcoaststampers.com the challenge was to use polka dots. Which, for me, is not really a challenge at all! It seems almost every time I make a card I use polka dots. :)

My friend Nikki is getting married in April and her shower is this coming weekend. Her colors are cornflower blue and silver, so I thought tempting turquoise would be a good substitute. I'm not sure if you can see in the picture, but the flowers on the cake are embossed with silver embossing powder.

This stamp set is from Papertrey ink and is called Piece of Cake. You can purchase it here: http://www.papertreyink.com/stamps_pieceofcake.html

Supplies:
Stamps - Papertrey Piece of Cake, Polka Dot BG stamp (SU)
Paper - Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink - Tempting Turquoise, Black, Versamark and silver embossing powder
Accessories - Silver Brads, Tag corner punch

My polka dotted elements for this card are the patterned paper - East Coast Prep designer paper by Stampin' Up!, and the polka dotted ribbon that I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

This set, Eat Cake, is so versatile, and I find that it can be easily customized for male or female cards. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps - Eat Cake

Paper - East Coast Prep DP, Tempting Turquoise, More Mustard, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Real Red

Ink - Real Red, More Mustard, Basic Black, Tempting turquoise

Accessories - Polka dot ribbon from Hobby Lobby, dimensionals

Strawberry Sketch Challenge - and SNOW!

Holy buckets, I can't ever remeber seeing so much snow in my life! It's been snowing since yesterday afternoon, at about 1-2" per hour, depending on where you're at. I think I shoveled the walk about 3 hours ago and you can't even tell I did it! Oh well, more for Adam to do when he gets home tonight. ;) I'm so thankful I don't have to drive to work today in this crap, though!

Anyway, on to the card. You can find today's sketch challenge here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=81868&d=1202261897

I ordered this strawberry stamp from Ellen Hutson's store here: http://www.ellenhutson.com/servlet/Detail?no=255

It's such a fun stamp to color! I was also happy to use some Imaginisce patterned paper I had bought awhile back.

Supplies:
Stamps: Lockhart - Strawberries, Baroque Motifs
Paper: Real Red DP (hostess pack), Imaginisce (flowered and yellow)
Ink: Black Craft ink, Clear EP, Real Red, Copics
Accessories: Marvy Scalloped circle punch, Fiskars 2" circle punch, paper piercer, dimensionals

I also wanted to do the color challenge from yestrday, which was ballet blue, real red and apricot appeal. I thought, what better excuse to make a baby card? Since I'm kind of in a baby mood, now, lol!

I emailed my Aunt last night to tell her, and she's like, oh, we have to start planning the baby shower! LOL - I already have invitation ideas brewing in my head...ha! :)

Supplies:

Stamps - Nursery Necessities

Paper - Apricot Appeal DP (hostess pack), Ballet Blue, Real Red, Whisper White and Basic Black

Inks - Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal

Accessories - 5/8" Real Red grosgrain ribbon, Black Brads, Dimensionals

One more thing today....I was watching TV the other night and saw a Rhapsody commercial with a neat song. So, I googled it and found the song, Love Song by Sara Bareilles. I promptly went to iTunes this morning and downloaded the whole album. It's really good! It kind of reminds me of KT Tunstall if you like her. Here's a link to the CD on the Best Buy website: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8399805&st=bareilles&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1656184

That's all for now - have a good day and stay warm!

Valentine's Ensemble

I was looking back through some of the old color challenges on SCS and came across this one - Sage Shadow, Apricot Appeal and Rose Red. All the samples looked so pretty, I had to try it!

The card was CASEd from one by Jenn D that you can see here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/779834?cat=all&si=CC149&what=keywords

The round container in the middle is just a Crystal Light container that I peeled the label off of, then covered with Rose Red DP using sticky strip. There's candy in there... :)

The card holder is a great idea, and I found that tutorial on Sharon's (notimetostamp) blog here: http://notimetostamp.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2008/01/28/simply-scored/

This little gift set will be for my sister for Valentine's day. I'm going out to lunch with her on Thursday, so Kristen, if you see this, you better act surprised! :)

Supply List:
Basic Black, Rose Red and Sage Shadow cardstock
Apricot Appeal and Rose Red designer paper
Rose Red and Basic Black ink
Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon, black gingham ribbon, circle and scalloped circle punches
All stamps from Inkadinkado's Valentine line

Sympathy card and BIG news :)

My good friend Stephanie's grandpa passed away this week, so I wanted to send her a sympathy card. This is the first time I have ever (believe it or not) used this big flower from Time Well Spent (hostess). The patterned paper is from the Prints Pack (hostess). Other cardstock colors are Chocolate Chip and Bashful Blue. I stamped the flower with Basic Black Craft Ink on Whisper White and embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. Then I colored in the image with my copics and cut out. Mounted on a dimensional. The ribbon is taffeta Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip. Sentiment is from Hero Arts.

In other news, I have taken two pregnancy tests, one last night and one this morning that both confirm I'm expecting! Yay! I have to say, I am very relieved. My due date will be October 12th. I feel some baby cards coming on...... :)

Inspiration Saturday

Today I actually did the Inspiration Challenge over at SCS. Here's the link to the inspiration piece: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=81374&d=1201926458

When I first saw the photo for the IC today, I immediately thought soft sky, kraft and whisper white. Well, my soft sky was packed up for my class today, so I subbed sage shadow and I'm glad I did! I love how this card turned out.

Base is stamped with sanded bg in creamy caramel ink. Ribbon is white taffeta. Sentiment is from the set One of a Kind.Thanks for looking!

Sparkling Star

I wanted to use my new Sticky Cuts letters, but didn't really have any glitter besides Dazzling Diamonds. As you can see, it worked just fine.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Stamps: Warm Words
Paper: Apricot Appeal Prints Pack (hostess), Basic Black, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Perfect Plum
Accessories: Sponges, Brads, Sticky Cuts, Dazzling Diamonds, Edge Distresser, Designer Label punch, 1" circle punch, small oval punch, ribbon from HL

Weekend Sketch Challenge

Wow, two challenges in one day? I can't believe myself! Anyways...this card is for the weekend sketch challenge over on Beate's blog (link to it on the left side of my webpage). I needed to use the set Always, and I thought, what better excuse to make a Valentine?

Base of card is 3 3/4 x 7 3/4 and Basic Black. Layered with Ruby Red and Making Memories patterned Paper. Flowers stamped in Ruby Red and Pretty in Pink on Very Vanilla and punched out with square punch. Ribbon is Basic Gray taffeta, sentiment punched out with Word Window Punch.

Thanks for looking!

Finally...a challenge!

It has been months since I've done a challenge over at SCS, so today was the perfect excuse to pull out this neglected stamp set, Just Football. Paper is from the Prints Pack, which is a hostess set. Sentiment is from Celebrate Everything set. I also got a chance to use my new Tab Punch -- I can't believe it took me so long to buy that little jewel. :)

Well I'm off to meet my hubby for lunch, then to do some errands. Then I need to prep for my V-Day class tomorrow. Ready for the weekend!