Orange & Yellow Fleurs

I was in the grocery last night (I KNOW!) and at my store you walk right into the floral department. Smells divine, and it's sooo pretty! Yesterday they had a large display with a sign: All Tulips $5. Then I spotted this in the same display:

Yeah, it's a really poor photo - I took it with my phone in the mood lighting my store has, but the orange and yellows were so vibrant and BRIGHT (unlike in this photo), that I immediately knew I needed to make a card based on it. I had a vision of a yellow background with rolled orange flowers. Oh, yeah.

You'll notice, by the way, those are not tulips, and they were not $5.  I did not take them home with me, though I have been known to buy myself flowers on occasion. I wasn't feeling that generous last night.

So this evening I finally got to try it. I printed out one of Mel's digi papers, and then I decided I was not going to roll no stinkin' flowers! First of all, I have no orange felt, and second, I have a whole cache of paper roses in shades of yellow and orange, so HELLO!  I made this:

I may have gotten a bit carried away with the roses. I die-cut the MFT doily, then added each flower (by Recollections ... moment of silence...), one at a time, by poking a hole into the doily with my paper piercer, sticking in the wire that's on the back of the rose, then bending it back to hold it in place.  When I finally declared it ENOUGH, I realized there was a bit of open space at the bottom of the doily, so being ever open to embellishment opportunities, I tied some SAB ribbons through two holes in the doily and tied a bow.

You can also see that I am not used to these very bright colors, since I seem to grab the same still-out Paper Smooches sentiment to use each time.

Here's a close-up of the roses:

The package says Mulberry Paper Roses. They are quite delicate, and so pretty. I think I got them at Mike's a few years ago. Oh, and this card weighs about 5 pounds, just in case you were wondering.

So if you ever feel mojo-less, just get out into your world, man. There's inspiration everywhere!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jingle Belles - Neutrals

The current fortnight challenge over at Jingle Belles Rock is to use this photo as inspiration for our cards:

We could use the colors, the texture, shapes, anything we wanted, so I went with neutrals. I love a good neutrals challenge! I started with this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

 and I made this:

The papers in the Basic Grey capella paper pack are mostly neutral, and since this is an inspiration challenge, I allowed myself to sneak in that flesh-toned piece (no, it is NOT (gah) PINK!). I embossed the grey-ish panel with my Houndstooth embossing folder to add a little texture to the card.

Oh, and I did not copy Lauren just because I used the Tim Holtz deer die. Well, technically, she enabled me to need it, so I guess every time I use it I copy her. Hmmm. (Shhhh, she doesn't know I want to be like her when I grow up.)

I'm going back in for some more stamping! Thanks for stopping by!

Velveteen - I tried

Last week on Twitter, the Hero Arts account asked if we stampers had had chance to play with Shari's Velveteen Stamping technique. Um, no. So I watched the video.

In a nutshell, she stamped a background in pigment white ink and let it dry. (I also think she has the patience of a saint. Just sayin'.) Then later she stamped a bold image over the white-on-white background and some of the white showed through, giving it a velveteen look.

I needed to try this. So amid the VSN flurry of activity this past weekend, I took time out to stamp a few (okay, like SIX) background images in Color Box Frosted White onto some A Muse Studio Sugar card stock, and I let it dry for a few days. Then I went back and stamped. And stamped. I used all six of those backgrounds, and only two are somewhat presentable. And no, I didn't get the look I wanted, but it's still kinda cool.

Here's the first card:

 I tried a pale color for my stamping, hoping the velveteen thing would happen. This is the best I got:

If you look very closely, you can see the lace background stamp I used for my white-on-white, but it didn't show through the blue ink at all. :(

For my next attempt, I used darker colors:

 Okay, not a LOT darker, but still ... and:

Not happenin' for me. HOWEVER, I still like the look, so I'm still going to use this white-on-white thing as a cool background, but obviously I need more training. So if any of you try it and succeed, please come let me know the secret, k? I thank you.

In other news, I might be addicted to Chia seed tapioca made with vanilla almond milk. Here's the recipe I followed, but for the second batch I left out the cinnamon. I also used less milk, because I like it thick. I'm on my third batch, and I'm now out of almond milk. The world might end. I'm also intrigued by this recipe, so once I re-stock the almond milk, I'll give that a try. nom nom nom

Thanks for stopping by!

SOS #43: Food or Beverage

Time for another challenge over at Shopping Our Stash! This week we ask you to use a food or drink theme. It could be cake, or cookies, or an ice cream cone, or a martini. LOTS of options, here!

I chose coffee as my theme, and I made this:

What? You say this card looks familiar? That's because I CASEd myself, twice. I actually took this card:

and this card from my first batch of VSN cards:

and this sketch from CPS-Card Sketches:

and mashed them all together to make the new one:

I was in the throes of VSN when I made this, and everything was still out ... well, everything is always still out ... ahem ... okay, this stuff was on top of all the still-out, k?

So there you have it. Now it's YOUR turn. Go through your stash and find something food- or beverage-related, make a card, then link us up over at Shopping Our Stash so we can see what you've made!

Thanks for stopping by!

March VSN, Part Second (and Last)

Wow, what a rush! I had such a blast playing the VSN challenges this weekend. Thanks to all who joined the fun!

I thought I'd show you a few more cards I made for the various challenges. The first Saturday challenge was to make a girly birthday card. Girly? Me? Sigh. So I did what I usually do in this situation and went into my stash of Webster's Pages papers and chose some that did all the work for me. I mean, when you have a 45-minute time limit, you look for all the help you can get!  I couldn't decide, so I made two:

They are the same except for the paper. I had a few feet of lace from the fabric store, and I wove some SAB ribbon through it. The sentiment was stamped on a separate piece of Webster's Pages paper and cut out. TWO cards in under 45 minutes. Whoot!

The next challenge was a SPRING Mnemonic challenge, which was to use something for each of the letters in the word SPRING. Here is my card:

and here is my list:

S = Sketch (MFTWSC56 from Jan 25th)
P = Poppy card stock
R = Ribbon
I = Ink
N = Nestabilities circle (I cut the poppy DSP with it)
G = Glitter pen (it's in all the red circles on the flower DSP)

This one really makes you use some creativity. You may recall I've made a card just like this but without the ribbon or glitter. I needed an R and G, so I changed it up a bit. It's totally okay to CASE yourself.

Next was a challenge to make a card with a critter that hops. Well, my brain mis-fired and I took the word 'hops' and made this:

Get it? Hops? Beer? Yeah, I even apologized to the hostess for twisting her words.

The next challenge I did asked us to use rolled flowers on our cards, so I made this:

That was some minty green ribbon I have that I declared a perfect match for the Brilliance ink I used for the circle under the rolled flower. I scrunched some more of it on the card to balance out that twisted sentiment. :)

And last, but not least, I made this card for my OWN challenge, which was to use something curly and 3D:

This paper is from a Memory Box pack (minuet, I believe) and again, it did all the work for me. I made that button (yes, I did), and then twisted some of the 12 miles of craft wire I have through the holes, then wound them around a toothpick to curl them. Lookie:

Someone will surely lose an eye.

Will I go back in for more? I might! Then again, I might cook dinner first, then decide if I'm carded out for the weekend. But YOU should DEFINITELY play. You have until 10 pm Monday to upload your cards. Actually, you have forever to upload them, but the official deadline for VSN is Monday at 10 pm.

In other news, I had The Ladies over to buy my 12x12 papers, and although they did a FINE job, I still have too much left. Therefore, I'm selling it in bulk. I've filled Medium Flat Rate boxes with paper. Each one holds at least 200 sheets and I'm selling them for $30 + shipping, which is $11.95 for that size box.  I've added a tab at the top of my blog called "Buy My S-crap! Please check it out and let me know if you're interested. Thanks!

And thanks for stopping by!

March VSN, Part First

I'm having a blast over at Splitcoast this weekend with VSN. I mean, you really can't beat a challenge an hour, can you?!

I thought I'd give you a sampling of what I made for the Friday night challenges.

The first one was Here Comes the Sun, where we were supposed to use sunny colors. This is my card:

and a close-up of the sentiment and paper so you can see the paper's shimmer:



The paper was in my GET RID OF IT, YOU'LL NEVER USE IT, WHY DO YOU STILL HAVE IT pile, and it cried out to be used for my sunny color. I could not argue.

The second challenge was Love Is In Bloom, and we were asked to use a heart or the word 'love' on our card. I made this:

All these hearts were still out on my desk from a while ago, so this card kindof made itself.

The third challenge was Spring Cleaning, and we were supposed to look for something in the depths of our stash that hadn't been used for at least 6 months. HAHAHA. I laughed. Then I made this:

 A piece of paper from the WHY DO I OWN THIS pile, a never-inked sentiment from Custer's Last Stamp (yes, it's THAT old), and my neglected A*Muse coffee cup.

Here's a close-up of the sentiment:

It's tough stamping on textured card stock, but I think it adds to the edginess, don't you agree?

The fourth challenge was Spring Is In The Air, and we were asked to use something you'd find in the sky. I made this:

I declared that piece of marbled, textured paper to be "clouds", and all I did was layer it on some Bordering Blue, tie the French Blue ribbon (yes, it's THAT old), stamped the Paper Smooches sentiment, and drew in my birds.

The fifth and final challenge last night was Rain, Rain Go Away, where we were asked to make a sympathy card. SAY WHAT?!?! But I JUST MADE a sympathy card. Drat! The one thing with VSN is you cannot combine challenges! I was forced to make ANOTHER one! Sigh. here's what I made:

This is a dog sympathy card. I decided to take the less weepy road and used the happy sentiment from the D is for Dog set instead of the "sorry for your loss" one. Same marbled sky paper, same birds. I stamped the tree from Branch Out in brown, then inked the grass part of the stamp with my Garden Green marker before I stamped it. The leaves were stamped in Garden Green, and I added some grass under the dog. I think I've had that dog stamp for over 8 years. I have no idea who made it.

So that's my first 5 cards for this VSN. I'm working on today's challenges, and will post more when I get some time. You have all weekend to play any of the challenges, and you're on the honor system for the 45-minute time limit per card. And thinking about your card doesn't count. But once you start working on it, the clock starts, and if it takes you 15 minutes to find your cloud paper you KNOW you put away, that counts as part of the 45. Ask me how I know. ;/ You have until 10 pm Monday to upload your cards if you want a shot at being chosen as a favorite for a challenge. Otherwise you can play ANY TIME!

Alrighty, then, I'm going back in for more fun! Come play, if you get a chance!

Thanks for stopping by!

Come Out And Play!

This is VSN weekend over at Splitcoast, so if you're looking for something to do, we'll have hourly challenges posted from 5-9 ET tonight (Friday) and again from noon-10 pm on Saturday. Come on out and play! We'd love to see you in the forum and galleries!

Thanks for stopping by!

More Digi Paper

At long last, it's only taken me a week to get this card made, and then I missed the cut-off for posting it in the MFT gallery over at SCS. Oh, well.

Here's the (old) MFT sketch:

I saw these layers as a perfect opportunity to use more of Mel's digi papers that I'd printed out. Here's my card:

I used a different Ephemera digi paper for each of the sketch elements, and used retired SU Going Grey for contrast between the layers.

The only stamping I did is the sentiment and yellow stars from the MFT You Move Me set. The moon was also stamped onto some of the Chevron paper, then cut out and layered onto several more cut-outs of itself for dimension. I outlined the moon with my black Memento marker so you could see it. Please ignore the fact that it's hanging unnaturally in the sky. Just a little "off". ;/

So, today is FRIDAY, and that means the VSN over on Splitcoast is TONIGHT, BABY! Actually, tonight and most of Saturday. Please stop by, read up on what's required (pretty much showing up is all you need to do), check out the challenges, and play along! The more, the merrier! My challenge is 8 pm Saturday, and I'd love if you'd join in the fun.

Thanks for stopping by!

Unspeakable Evil

For my next trick, I did another sketch that is still current, or at least it was when I made the card. Of course, it's old now that I've finally put new batteries in the camera to take its picture. :(  Over-all, though, I think by not setting the bar so high (read: I didn't print out 15 sketches on top of the 15 I didn't do last week), I'm actually able to DO some of these and not feel overwhelmed.I excel at creating work for myself.

Here the missed-it-by-a-day Twisted Cards sketch I used the other night:

I couldn't have linked to the sketch challenge, anyway, since it said to use "leap" somehow, which I didn't do. But I still liked the sketch, so I used it.

Here's my card:

You'll notice that this card is made mostly from things laying around on my desk. I'm telling you: you people who clean up after every card are losing a TON of inspiration. I normally wouldn't put away scraps, er ... remnants like these. In my world, they'd never see the light of day again.This way, I see them I use them, done. So there.

Okay, moving right along ... the blue-ish printed paper is left over from this card. I actually had one heck of a time layering it onto - yes, another piece of Bermuda Bay card stock that was ... still out - and cutting it to just the right size. That handsome blue border at the bottom of that layer is actually a cut-off strip that I turned over and glued down to make up for the fact that I couldn't un-stick the paper from the card stock to "fix" it.In the end, I kinda like that technique for saving myself. Look for it to be employed again. :)

The red thingies under the last-minute I-need-something------YELLOW buttons are punch-outs from the Poppy Parade die-cut strip.

Now, about that sentiment:

(hee hee) I love it. It's another one from the ... all together now ... still out set of Twisted Foursome by MFT. I love some good irreverence. :)

For those of you questioning my use of so much blue lately, you'll be happy to know I'm pretty much done with that piece of Bermuda Bay, so you'll see something different for a while. Sorry, but it was still out, and since it's a retired color, it lives in the bowels of my paper cabinet, and it's too difficult to put the remnants away. And I've vowed to only take paper out of that area, not put it back in. But I'm done now.

Tomorrow I'll post the finally finished MFT sketch card from last week's sketch. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

An Easy Quilty Scrappy Card

Most of you know I'm all about using up my remnants, and since I still have that package of SU's Everyday Enchantment paper out, when I saw this sketch from Fetch A Sketch:

well, what was I to do but obey the muse?  Here's what I made:

No virgin card stock or paper was harmed in the making of this card! NONE! Yes, I'm so very proud. I'm even prouder that the sketch challenge is from this week and not three weeks ago. :)

I've actually pulled off a few sketch challenges, mostly not expired. Well, except for that MFT sketch from last week that I finally did. I'll spread these out over the rest of the week so you'll have something to read while I ponder how I'm going to present 8 years' worth of collected 12x12 DSP for people to come look through on Sunday and hopefully buy. Considering I've already filled up the reclaimed massive cupboard space in The Captain's Quarters, I can't exactly put it all back. Sigh.

Thanks for stopping by!