Halloween duo

Hey everyone. Hope you're all having a great weekend so far. Mine hasn't been too bad. I actually have today off which is a rare treat. I hope to sit down and get some holiday cards started. Also ready for some football! Go Cowboys! For today's post, I have a Halloween card and bookmark to share.

Both were created using only Papertrey Ink products. The card base is True Black cardstock and the bookmark was die cut using their bookmark die and Orange Zest cardstock. The stamps are from their adorable Tiny Treats: Halloween and the frame stamp is from All Booked Up which was cut out using the Mat Stack 3 die. The patterned papers are from the Halloween Prints pad. I added gold Stickles to the witches hat and stars for a little extra sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you each of a wonderful week ahead.

Blast from the Past

Hi everyone. Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog today. If you scroll down a bit, you'll see that my last stamping-related post was back in March. Crazy, huh?! I couldn't believe it'd been that long since I posted. I did go through a stamping drought for most of the summer, but this past month I was able to get a few cards done. Unfortunately, for my wallet anyhow, I couldn't resist a few of the Papertrey Ink releases while I was in my drought. Ha! At least I had plenty of new supplies to try out when I got my mojo back. As far as posting, I think my main problem is taking the time to take a picture, edit said picture, then write a blog post. When I took pictures of the cards below for this hop I went ahead and snapped a few of other completed cards. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of posting more frequently soon.

Anyways, back to the reason for this post: Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past Blog Hop. I think this is such a great idea. It gives you that push to break out those old, forgotten sets and there is always such great inspiration all along the hop. And it gave me the much-needed motivation to post! Ha. Since Halloween is just around the corner (hard to believe eh?) I decided to use the Trick or Sweet set and create a duo of cards. I originally intended to make it a trio using the pumpkin cuppie as well, but I didn't get a chance to get the card put together in time for the hop. So a twosome it is. I stamped the vampire and frankenstein, colored them with Copics and then cut them out. The cardstock (Orange Zest, Simply Chartreuse, & Plum Pudding) and patterned papers (Halloween Prints) are from Papertrey Ink. On each of the card bases, I stamped two images, the treat bag and ghost, from Papertrey Ink's Tiny Treats: Halloween set. The sentiment is also from this adorable set. Basically just two simple, flat cards- perfect for easy mailing! Please excuse the poor photos. My camera seems to have dust in the lens so there is a black dot that appears in every shot. I had to zoom out and then crop close to get a picture without the dot.

Anyways, that is all from me this time around. Thanks again for stopping by. Be sure to check out everyone's blog that is involved in this hop below. You won't be disappointed! :)

High Hopes Easter

Good Saturday evening! I hope you all plan to show your support for the Earth and switch off your lights at 8:30 pm your local time for one hour. It's all part of a movement called Earth Hour.  Now onto today's card...

This is my last-minute entry for this week's High Hopes Challenge #68 - Hoppy Easter! I stamped the image, titled Bunny With Gift, in Memento ink on PTI's Vintage Cream cardstock and layered on PTI Summer Sunrise cardstock.  I colored it with Copics, but kept it minimal. I have a limited number of Copics and all of my browns are dark. I felt too much dark brown would be a bit too much. What are your favorite tan and light brown Copics? I need to add a couple to my collection. The cardbase is PTI Lemon Tart and the patterned papers are DCWV. I punched the striped paper, which is a bit hard to see, with a Martha Stewart border punch who's name I can't recall. I finished it off with two Prima flowers and a dew drop center.

That is all from me for this post. Don't forget to turn off those lights! :) Have a wonderful night y'all.

PTI March Blog Hop

Sorry for the slightly lop-sided photo. This month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is all about the buttons! I love their perfect match vintage buttons. The ones I used here our Lemon Tart. I tied a simple twine knot in the center of each. The card base is their new color, Hawaiian Shores. It's so pretty! I also used the new Delightful Dahlia stamp set and dies. The flower was stamped in Hawaiian Shores ink on Lemon Tart Bitty Dot paper and the leaves were stamped in Ripe Avocado ink on Spring Moss cardstock.  I am so loving the new PTI dies! That strip of Spring Moss Bitty Dot paper was cut with the Rick Rack die. The Mother's Day sentiment is also from the Delightful Dahlia set and was stamped in Ripe Avocado ink on Kraft cardstock. 

This card is also my entry for Lisa Johnson's Poppy Seed Challenge #2. The challenge, as you can see above, was to use Light Moss, Polka Dots, and Buttons. Because it's easy to replicate, I plan to make more cards like this one using a variety of color schemes and stamps. Well, that is all from me! Tomorrow is Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Just Because

Oh wow. I had no idea that it has been so long since my last post. I have been creating so I hope to blog more frequently real soon. This card features Papertrey Ink's Year of Flowers: Violets set. I adore the images in this set. They are so easy and fun to paper piece which is what I did here. The papers are from the Pretty Pastels collection. PTI is releasing a new YOF set each month. March's was the Daffodil. It is equally cute! The card is, overall, pretty simple. The ribbon is Lavender Moon Swiss Dot and the sentiment is from Giga Guidelines stamped in Plum Pudding ink. To finish it off, I added a bit of fine glitter to the center of the Violet with my Quickie glue pen. I thank you for stopping by. It's almost 11 pm here in Virginia so I'm going to go finish Dead As A Doornail, the 5th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series (True Blood, anyone?), and then hit the hay. Nighty night! :)

Wishing You Love

Howdy folks. Happy Hump Day! It's a dreary and rainy day here in Virginia. Yuck! The card I have to share today is my entry for a few challenges and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Friday Sketchers #85 - Sketch

Wags 'n Whiskers #8 - Hearts

Moxie Fab World - Start to Finish

Charisma Cardz #2 - Anything New

Raise The Bar #1 - New

And here is the card..  

 I used the adorable image titled With Love from Wags 'n Whiskers. Isn't she so cute!? I just got her about a week ago, hence the challenges to use something new. She was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copics. I added some Diamond Stickles to the fuzzy trim of her boots. The card base is made from Papertrey Ink's Sweet Blush cardstock and the patterned paper is Basic Grey's Bittersweet. The sentiment, stamped in PTI Dark Chocolate ink, is from PTI's Wishing You set and the heart, stamped in PTI Sweet Blush ink, is also PTI - from the Love Songs set. I used the Martha Stewart Mini Heart border punch on the brown paper and also the bottom layer. I also decorated the inside of the card this time around. I didn't follow the same sketch but used the same papers so that it coordinates. You can click on the smaller images below for a bigger view.

Well, that is all for me today. Thank you for stopping by and also many thanks for all of the sweet comments you leave. They really make my day. Have a good one!! 

P.S. I Love You

The weekend is almost over. Sure flew by didn't it? I went and saw Avatar yesterday and wow! What a movie! I think it's the best I've seen and I'm a movie fanatic. I highly recommend it. The story and effects are incredible and it has a really great message. I admit I was on the verge of tears through a lot of it, even shed a few. I love when a movie can bring out so much emotion in its audience.

Anyways, on to the reason of the post. This is my entry for Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #21. I really like this color scheme. I've used only Papertrey Ink products. Their next release is just around the corner. Did you guys see today's peek? It is so cute and creative! I don't have a single baby set so I know this one will be going into my cart. 

 Okay, back to the card.. I used Aqua Mist cardstock for the card base and Dark Chocolate and Lemon Tart for accent pieces. The XOXO background, envelope, and sentiment are all from my new Love Songs set. The background on the Lemon Tart cardstock, stamped in Dark Chocolate ink, is from Background Basics: Retro. Embellishments include Lemon Tart Swiss Dot Satin ribbon and Aqua Mist and Lemon Tart vintage buttons. I promise the ribbon lays flat. It didn't photograph too well on the right end. 

NFL playoffs have begun. Any other football fans out there? My Cowboys whooped some Eagle tail last night. Yeah!! Well, I'm off to watch the rest of the Ravens and Pats game. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love Birds

My first post of 2010. I meant to post earlier (I say that frequently huh?) but after taking a break during the Holidays it was slightly tough getting my mojo back. I finally found it yesterday and was able to get two cards done. Lots of pinks going on with this one. I think I went a little overboard.

The image is from High Hopes and I colored it with Copics. Other than that, oh and the Prima flower, everything else is Papertrey Ink. The cardstock is Hibiscus Burst and Raspberry Fizz. The patterned paper is the new Simple Valentine. I got the stack for Christmas. I love these papers! And to finish it off, PTI's vintage buttons.

I am entering this card in a few challenges:

High Hopes Stamps #57 - Sketch

A Spoonful of Sugar #85 - Hearts

Cute Card Thursday #94 - New

I hope you all have a great weekend. I actually have tomorrow off, which is a rarity. I want to go see Avatar. It looks really good. Maybe I'll get another card or two done as well. I'll be back soon with my entry for Dawn's latest Raspberry Suite Color Challenge. :)

Warm Winter Wishes

It's snowing here in Virginia! I love snow. It's a beautiful danger though. I've got a fire going and Dexter in the DVD player. The rest of my family are in North Carolina for the weekend. I elected to stay home with the furbabies. They're estimating 8 to 12 inches for our area and maybe a Thundersnow this evening! Thunder during snowfall? I've never experienced anything like that before. I've just got my fingers crossed that the power stays on.This card I made a few weeks ago, but am just getting a chance to post it. Cute Christmas kitty huh? I love High Hopes' images. I've got a few new ones on their way from 7 Kids. This one is called Meowy Christmas. I colored him with Copics and added Diamond Stickles to the fur trim of his hat. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Stocking Prints set. I stamped a Studio G snowflake watermark on the PTI Pure Poppy cardstock. The patterned paper is DCWV. All paper edges were inked with PTI's Dark Chocolate ink. I am entering this card in Moxie Fab World's All Creatures Great & Small challenge.

Well, that is all for me. I'm going to go watch Dexter and the snow continue to fall by the toasty fire. I hope you all are staying warm and if you have to go out in this kind of mess, please be careful. Take care and have a great weekend!

From Our House...

I just adore this little elf. Isn't he so cute? He is from Peachy Keen Stamps and is called Snickerdoodle Gift Elf. Be sure to check out their December Deals tab for their current specials. I colored him with Copics and then added gold Stickles to his hat's bell and diamond Stickles to the puffy areas on his jacket. The cardstock and patterned paper are both from DCWV. The buttons were in my stash.

I am entering this card in PaperPlay's Challenge #45. The theme this week is Movies & Books. Can ya guess what movie I drew inspiration from? One of my favorite (not just Holiday) movies - ELF! This card is also my entry for Stamp Something's challenge titled Winter Wonderland Somethings. Red and green, elves, gifts all remind me of this time of year. There are also snowflakes, albeit hard to see in this picture, in the patterned paper. Mr. Snickerdoodle is also bundled up pretty good too! Tomorrow, my former high school's football team is playing in the State Championships. Northside is the first team from our county to play for a state title since 1971. [That game in 1971 was actually the focus of the movie Remember the Titans and it was played here in Roanoke.] I was able to see just about every game so far this season. They are playing in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium! Pretty cool, huh! That is about 45 minutes from here so we'll be leaving at around 10 a.m. in order get a good seat and get ready for the noon kick-off. They are favored to win, but that is never a sure thing. They've worked so hard to get where they are and are on a 8 game winning streak. My fingers are crossed! Hope you all are staying warm and have a wonderful weekend. Ciao!

Deck The Halls

Can you believe December is here? 2009 is almost over. It's crazy how time flies. Christmas is just around the corner. I meant to post sooner. I actually have over 7 posts worth of cards to share. I swear, taking and editing the pictures are more of a chore to me than actually creating and posting. I finally took some time today and photographed a few. I'm sorry about the more-so than normal low-quality pictures. We haven't had a whole lot of sunshine here lately and that is always helpful, especially with ones taken indoors. I am entering this card in a number of challenges this week. Here's the list:

• Stamp With Fun #35 - Christmas
• A Spoon Full Of Sugar #80 - Non-Traditional Christmas Colors
• Creative Card Crew #39 - Christmas
• 2RedBananas - Christmas/Winter
• PaperPlay Challenges Week 44 - Christmas without using Red & Green
• Pollycraft Challenges #29 - Christmas
  

I really like this color scheme - even for Christmas! The pattern paper is from last year's DCWV Christmas stack and the cardstock is Papertrey Ink's Smokey Shadow. Both the stocking image and sentiment are from PTI's Stocking Prints stamp set. The inks, also from PTI, are Raspberry Fizz and Smokey Shadow. I kept it all pretty simple and flat for easy mailing. I also made a set of 3x3 cards using the same stamp set and color scheme. I'll post them another time. Well, that is all for me. Tomorrow is Friday! Hope you all have a lovely weekend. Ciao!

Ice Princess

Hope this post finds you all well on this November Tuesday. The weather here in Virginia is in the low 50s and there isn't a sight of the sun outside. Only clouds and grayness. Did you all check out all of the fab goodies Papertrey Ink released on Sunday? I placed my order yesterday. With my two Copic orders I wasn't able to order any new PTI last month. I picked up the Holiday button mix, White notepads, the new Background Basic: Diamonds, Giga Guidelines, and the new Terracotta Tile ink and cardstock. I can't wait for it all to arrive. Today's card I am entering for two challenge: Charisma Cardz #45: Merry & Bright and also Saturday Challenge's #58: Four Seasons. The stamp is from C.C. Design's Snowmen set. Isn't she cute? I colored her with Copics. The cardstock is Papertrey Ink's Pure Poppy and the paper is from K&Company's delicious Peppermint Twist stack. I stamped a Studio G snowflake in Versamark onto the Pure Poppy for a subtle background. I added Stickles to her skates' blades and beneath the Skittle in the center of the Prima flowers. I still need to decorate the inside, but I plan to keep it simple. Well, I best get up from here and get ready. I have a few errands to run. Have a pleasant day everyone! :)

Biking Angel

It's been over two months since my last post on here. Wow. I went through a major slump and lost all of my creative mojo. I tell ya what got me out of it too - Copics! About 2 weeks ago, I caved in and bought my first, about 12 or so. Loved 'em so much I placed another a week later. These markers are great and I really can see what everyone loves about them. I haven't quite gotten my blending down pat yet and I know it'll be a while before I work on my shading, but I love the results they give with just plain coloring. So fun! If you're on the fence or in the market for them, I highly recommend Oozak. They have the best prices I've seen and free (and fast) shipping on orders over $50.00. Make sure you register to see the lowest price. As soon as I got my first order I couldn't wait to get to work on an image. So for my first post back I'll be sharing my entry for this week's High Hopes Challenge. It is a fab sketch by DT member Lacey.
I found my new source for the adorable High Hopes stamps. 7 Kids has wonderful pricing and reasonable shipping too. This image is titled Lizabeth Biking Angel. Isn't she cute? I only have a limited number of Copics (about 32) so I have to choose my papers carefully. I know what I'll be asking for from Santa this year! Ha. The pattern papers are from K&Company's Citronella line. It has a lot of bright and fun papers. I added some Diamond Stickles to her wings for a little extra sparkle. Primas and skittles finish it all off. That is all for me for today. I photographed another card I finished today when I did this one so I hope to be back soon to share that with you all. I'm also off work tomorrow so hopefully I can get another card or two done. Thanks for stopping by!

Grrrrr!

Hi everyone! TGIF! Well - not so much for me as I'm working this weekend. I do hope you all enjoy your holiday weekend. Hopefully y'all won't be working! I picked up this stamp set at Michael's last week. I thought it was pretty cute and would be great for paper-piecing.

Recipe:
Stamps: Recollections (My Little Monsters)
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black
Cardstock: PTI Summer Sunrise, Plum Pudding, Kraft
Paper: K&Co Halloween mat-stack from last year
Other: dew drops, Nestabilities

Swimsuit Tilda

Hey everybody! I apologize for the lack of posting. I have been creating and my Google Reader is plum full of wonderful blogs that I greatly enjoy reading, but when it came to my blog I just lost interest. I'm still not entirely back into it, but I figured I could at least post my cards and their recipes even if I don't have much else to say. The card I have to share for this post I am entering in Cute Card Thursday's Challenge #74 - Lazy Days! All supplies used are listed below. I think this is one of my favorites cards I have created to date. I hope to start on some Christmas cards soon. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Recipe:
Stamps: Magnolia (Summer kit)
Ink: Staz-On Jet Black
Cardstock: PTI Summer Sunrise
Paper: MM Chloe's Closet
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, blending stumps, odorless mineral spirits, Stickles, dew drops, Nestabilities

Berry Much

Where has July gone? I can't believe it's already the 20th. I truly meant to post again before today - more like last week! Life just seems to get in the way. This week is sure to be a busy one as well. We leave on Saturday for VEGA$! It seems like just the other day the countdown was at 50 days. Now we have only 5 sleeps to go. We'll be staying at the Flamingo as both my Mom and I got comp'd rooms for the week there. I'm so excited! We will arrive in Vegas around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night & we depart at midnight the following Friday. Six full days - this could be trouble! I'll be happy if I leave even or only down by half! LOL! Of course, it would be nice to come back ahead. :)
The card I have to share today took no time to make. It follows this week's Simon Says Challenge - Summer Fruits! The sketch is from a Papertake Weekly challenge a couple of weeks ago. All products used are from Papertrey Ink. The colors are Lemon Tart, Berry Sorbet, and New Leaf. I think they look good together - a nice cheery, summer combo. The strawberry image and sentiment are from the My Punny Valentine set. I'm happy with the final result and my next post will actually feature a card using the same sketch and set. I'm free the rest of the day so I hope to get another card or two complete. I will definitely post again before I leave for vacation. Hope you all have a fab week! Ciao!

Recipe:
Stamps: My Punny Valentine
Cardstock: Lemon Tart, Berry Sorbet, New Leaf, Kraft
Ink: Berry Sorbet, New Leaf
Paper: Bitty Dot Basics
Other: Lemon Tart vintage buttons, Nestabilities

Surfer Edwin

I can finally say I'm the owner of a Magnolia. I received the Summer kit last week and all of the images are so cute. Now, I just wish I had some Copics to color them. That'll be my next big item purchase. Maybe some time next month I can get my first set.

Doesn't Edwin make a cute surfer? I thought these papers from DCWV's Tahiti stack worked well with him. I colored him with the limited amount of Prismacolor pencils that I have. I'm not too happy with the finished image, but it'll have to do. The sketch used for the card was Pretties Weekly Challenge #58. I really like this sketch and plan to use it again. The full recipe is below. Sorry for the quick post. It's only 8:00 and I can barely hold my eyes open! That could be a good thing, though, as I have to be at work by 6:30 tomorrow morning! I should be back before the weekend with another post. I got two cards made last night using another sketch challenge. Ciao!

Recipe: Stamps: Magnolia (Summer kit)
Cardstock: Smokey Shadow, True Black (PTI)
Paper: DCWV Tahiti Stack
Ink: Staz-On Jet Black, Smokey Shadow (PTI)
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, blending stumps, odorless mineral spirits, Nestabilities, dew drops, sponge dauber

enjoy Life

Evening folks! Another week has begun. Luckily, I had today off. The weather was beautiful. Bright sunshine, blue skies, a few puffy clouds, and a nice slight breeze to keep it from feeling too hot. I had planned to get a card or two done today, but alas I have yet to follow through. I did get this card finished last night. When I received my latest PTI package, I noticed these three colors laying together and I liked how they looked so I thought I'd give it a try with a card. The layout is from Sunday Sketch & Stamp's Challenge #5. I definitely plan to save it and use again for future cards.All products used are from Papertrey Ink. The colors are Hibiscus Burst, New Leaf, Smokey Shadow, and Vintage Cream. The stamp sets I used were both designed by the fabulous Lisa Johnson and are titled Life and Background Basics: Spots & Dots. I decorated the inside as well, but it's very simple. The card measures 5.25 squared. Alcohol-inked dew drops were added for a finishing touch. Well, that's all for me today. I hope you all have a beautiful week. Maybe I'll be back with another card within the next couple of days. Take care!

Bee Happy - PTI Blog Hop

Hi everyone! It's time for Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop. This will be my first time participating. Where has June gone? This year is just flying by. The weather has been super hot here this week - up into the 90s! Work has been crazy busy so that explains my lack of posting and creating. The theme for this month is Summer Inspiration. When I think of summer, I think of flowers and gardening. My card was inspired by a painting titled Wildflowers by Brian Simons. [Click <-- Wildflowers for a photo of the painting] I don't quite recall how I came across his work, but I saved the link so I can take some time to look over each one at a later date. Isn't his work just stunning? I would love to have talent like that. I used PTI's Honey Bees set and had fun creating the flower and bee scene. One of the flowers, the Hibiscus Burst, is from Little Lady though. I plan to make a card using the coordinating papers for each of the flowers colors. This one is Ocean Tides. So far I've got Lemon Tart and Plum Pudding complete. For the layout, I used Stamp and Smiles Sketch Challenge #19. I hope I get some time to get some cards done soon. I have many challenges saved that I want to work on. Some are over two weeks old, but they're great to save for future sketchs and ideas. I do have Monday off, but I hope to squeeze in some time this weekend. I thank you for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful evening. Ciao!

Recipe:
Stamps: Honey Bees, Little Lady, Background Basics: Spots & Dots
Cardstock: Kraft, Ocean Tides
Patterned Paper: Bitty Dot Basics
Ink: Jet Black (Staz-On), Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Plum Pudding, Ripe Avocado, Ocean Tides, Hibiscus Burst

Wishing You... 3 Card Set

Hola! The weather here in Virginia is beautiful. The sun is shining bright and it is hot! Days like today make me definitely appreciate air conditioning. I am off today so I had some time to take pictures of my latest creation. Early I voted and ran some errands. We have our Governor and Lt. Gov. primaries today. I hope to sit down in a little while and work on some cards. Just gotta get the mojo flowing. There are a lot of challenges I hope to complete so that helps with the motivation. This set of three cards were something I came up with as I went along. I was sorting through my Papertrey Ink cardstock and these three colors were laying together. I liked how they looked together so it all started from there. The only difference between the three are the sentiments.

I pulled out my favorite Wishing You set once again for the tulips and sentiments. The spotted lines are from Background Basics: Spots & Dots. I used Bitty Dot Basics paper in Ripe Avocado for the image's frame. For a little sparkle, fine glitter was added to the larger tulip and, also, the dragonfly's trail on the inside. The sentiments say: Wishing You Happiness, Peace, & the Best. It's hard to believe PTI has another release just around the corner on the 15th. I am loving all of the sneak peeks so far. Well, I hope to be back soon with another post. Have a great day! Adios.

Recipe:
Stamps: Wishing You, Background Basics: Spots & Dots (PTI)
Ink: Berry Sorbet, Plum Pudding, Ripe Avocado (PTI)
Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Plum Pudding, Ripe Avocado
Patterned Paper: Bitty Dot Basics (PTI)
Accessories: Nestabilities, sponge dauber, Quickie glue pen, Martha Stewart fine glitter