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Monday, August 31, 2009

Birthday Cupcakes

Happy Monday! I hope all of your weeks are getting off to a great start! I know that a platter full of cupcakes would definitely make for a better start to the week for most people! LOL :-)

This little card is headed to a birthday girl! I make and send at least 2 cards a month to SCS birthday girls by way of the RAK Birthday Committee. It's fun and gets me to send some of the cards I make. I hope the recipients enjoy receiving them.

(click photo to enlarge)
This card was made with an image from the Unity August Kit of the Month. I think its super cute. I colored the cupcakes with pink and green Copic markers and added some sparkle to the cupcakes and ribbon with a Sakura glitter pen. The sentiment is from PTI's Cupcake Collection set. I don't know about you, but now that school is back in session I am really enjoying some clean and simple layouts lately and this one could be easily adapted to lots of different themes.

Well, that's all for now folks! Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Unity August 09 KOTM; PTI Cupcake Collection
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; PTI Raspberry Fizz; Copics; Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pen
Paper: PTI White, Raspberry Fizz
Accessories: PTI Raspberry Fizz twill
Other: Fiskars Upper Crest border punch

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Pink Overload!

Hi! I hope you've all had a great weekend! I am a bit sad that it's over already ... I had more that I wanted to get accomplished, but it will be 5:30 AM before I know it, so I will keep this post short! LOL

My buddy Susan on SCS and I did some image swapping. She sent me some cute Sugar Nellies images in exchange for some On My Couch images. Well, she got her's to me before I got to stamping mine, so I made this little card to send back to her with the couch images. Hope she likes pink! :-)

(Click photo to enlarge)
Overall, the card is pretty simple. I colored the image with Copic markers and added some glitter with a Sakura glitter pen on her beaded necklace. A girl's gotta have bling, right? :-) I matted the image on Raspberry Fizz paper and added some Upper Crest punching and twill to give it a little something.

Well, that is about it for now - I've got to get to bed since that alarm will be early! I will be back tomorrow with a cute and simple Unity card. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Image: Sugar Nellies
Ink: Memento Black, Copic markers, Sakura Stardust glitter pen
Paper: PTI Raspberry Fizz, White, Hibiscus Burst
Accessories: PTI Raspberry Fizz twill
Other: Fiskars Upper Crest border punch

Friday, August 28, 2009

Follow Your Heart

Happy Friday friends! :-) I finally got a chance to play with a few of the August 09 Unity KOTM images. I had the heart stamped a few days ago and finally worked it, the tag, and the paper scraps together in this card. It's almost impossible to see, but I softened the Spring Moss paper by stamping a text background in Chamomile ink, which I also used to distress all the edges of the patterned papers and the tag. The layout is similar to this card from a few days ago. Well that is all for now! I hope you've all had a great week - as always, thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Unity August 09 KOTM; PTI Scattered Showers Additions, Text Style
Ink: Palette Noir; PTI Aqua Mist & Chamomile; Copic markers; Sakura glitter pen
Paper: PTI Lavender Moon, White card stock, Bitty Box paper (Spring Moss), Bitty Dot paper (Lavender Moon)
Accessories: twine; MS adhesive pearls (colored w/ Copic marker YG91); foam tape; sewing machine

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Same but different

Hi and happy Thursday! I am soooo excited for Friday and the weekend. The first week of school has gone well so far, but I am exhausted! LOL

The other day I whipped up another version of this card with just different background paper, but I really like the Ocean Tides with the Kraft and Summer Sunrise. I think these cards would make a great gift set - they are really easy and quick to make. And I have some friends with birthdays coming up quick!
Anyway, I plan to work in some stamping time over the weekend and get back to some regular posting now that I am settling into a routine. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: PTI In Bloom
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Copic markers
Paper: PTI Kraft card stock; Bitty Box paper in Lemon Tart, Spring Moss, & Ocean Tides
Accessories: PTI Summer Sunrise grosgrain; foam tape; Fiskars Upper Crest border punch; corner rounder punch

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #15

Hiya! Just popping in to post my card for Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #15. I love the colors this week - Cream, Melon, Moss, and Medium Pink. I *finally* was able to make some time to stamp today - its been crazy since school started yesterday. Hopefully, I can get my head above water at work and get settled into a schedule that has room for stamping! :-)
Anyway, I used Dawn's new set, Scattered Showers Additions on this one. I started by stamping the tag image in Melon Berry but I purposely did not ink it well to give a more vintage feel. I trimmed this out and added some flowers and leaves in Hibiscus Burst & Spring Moss respectively. The sentiment is also from the set. A few extra details - I crumpled up the cream base under the tag and inked that and the Spring Moss Bitty Box layer with Chamomile ink, again to get a more vintage feel. I also added some sparkle to the flowers with a Sakura glitter pen and some Martha Stewart adhesive pearls.

Well, that is about it for now! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: PTI Scattered Showers Additions
Ink: PTI Chamomile, Hibiscus Burst, Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate, Melon Berry
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, Spring Moss card stock; Bitty Box paper in Spring Moss
Accessories: PTI Hibiscus Burst satin ribbon; Sakura glitter pen; MS adhesive pearls; foam tape; twine; corner rounder punch

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

August PTI Blog Hop

Happy 25th PTI fans! I love the PTI blog hop because its so fun to see how everyone interprets the challenge and latest stamp sets. And I love how the PTI fans are so supportive of each other with sweet comments.

This month, the theme was all about Fall. (You can read about the Blog Hop here.) To me, fall is all about the leaves changing. In NC, we get some spectacular fall leaves - especially in the mountains of our state. If you can ever make it out to the Blue Ridge Parkway this time of year, I highly recommend it! This card is inspired by those fall leaves ...
I stamped some In Bloom leaves onto Bitty Box paper and then smooshed them into some Scarlet Jewel ink to get more of that changing leaves color feel. I cut them out and made a leaf bouquet. I stamped a sentiment from the Vintage Picnic Sentiments set and did a little masking to make it into two lines so it would fit where I wanted it to go.

Well, that is about it for now. I officially survived the first day of school today, which is a relief as I am teaching a different high school this year. I always feel better about a coming school year once I get over the hump of that first day! :-) But now I am exhausted, so I will be headed to bed very soon! LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: In Bloom, Vintage Picnic Sentiments
Ink: PTI Scarlet Jewel, Palette Noir Black
Paper: Kraft card stock; Bitty Box paper (Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise, Spring Moss)
Accessories: foam tape; Fiskars Upper Crest punch; Summer Sunrise grosgrain ribbon

Monday, August 24, 2009

More In Bloom

Hey everyone! School starts tomorrow and those kids are coming through my door whether I am ready or not ... and right now, I'm not so I will keep this short! LOL

I am still enjoying this In Bloom stamp set from PTI. I stamped the flowers and leaves and Bitty Boxes paper again and added some Copics and glitter pen and some foam tape to give it a little extra something. Simple and pretty.Well, back to work for me! I did have time to make a blog hop card for tomorrow the other day so I will be back tomorrow evening with that! Wish me luck tomorrow :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: PTI In Bloom
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Copic markers, Sakura glitter pen
Paper: PTI Kraft card stock; Bitty Box paper in Lemon Tart, Spring Moss, & Dark Chocolate
Accessories: PTI Summer Sunrise grosgrain; foam tape; Fiskars Upper Crest border punch; corner rounder punch

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Happy Birthday to me!

Hi y'all! Sorry that I have been MIA this past week. It has been really busy getting settled at my new school, open house, and finishing up some things around here so they won't be hanging over my head when school starts on Tuesday! I didn't get to do any stamping all week!

Anyway, today is my birthday! I turned the big 2-9! I think I will be 29 again next year :-) My mom and sister got into some paper crafts and made these cards ...

Here are two that my mom made ...
And one that my sister made ...I appreciate that my mom and sister made some handmade cards for me! Thanks y'all! :-)

Well, I better get to bed ... that alarm clock will go off way earlier than I've been used to all summer. And I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow to finish up preparations for my students ... hopefully I will have a really productive day in my classroom. :-)

I will be back tomorrow with a new card using In Bloom and I have my PTI Blog Hop card all ready to go for Tuesday, too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Blog Candy Winners!

Congratulations to commenters #8 (Tina P) and #3 (Chris)! Please email me (see link in side bar under my photo) by Friday 8/21/09 so that you can claim your prize! :-)

My Fabulous Friend

Hi y'all! Hope your week is going great so far! Looking forward to getting some stuff settled in my classroom today. So much to do and I feel like time is running out!

Today, I have another paper pleats card, again inspired by the one in Dawn's post here. I really love how this one turned out! (Please try to overlook my horrible photography here!)I pleated some Ripe Avocado paper across the bottom and wrapped ribbon around the top of the paper. (Note - to make it pretty on the inside of the card, I taped the ribbon ends down under the flower on the front.) The flower and leaves are from the In Bloom set, stamped onto Berry Sorbet and Spring Moss Bitty Box paper respectively. I added some shading with some Copic markers and adhered them with foam tape. Love it! The sentiment is from the Friends Til the End set.

I will be back later tonight with the winners of the blog candy! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used (all PTI):
Stamps: In Bloom, Friends Til the End
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Dark Chocolate, Copics
Paper: White CS, Bitty Box Patterned Paper (Ripe Avocado, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss)
Accessories: Dark Chocolate grosgrain, foam tape

Monday, August 17, 2009

Inspired Paper Pleats

Hiya and Happy Monday! (Is there such a thing? LOL) I am back to work today - the first teacher workday. I believe we have meetings for the duration of the whole day. Hopefully, I'll get to set up my new classroom and get settled soon since we have an open house on Thursday! Anyway, on to the card ... This card was inspired by Dawn's card here. These pleats just looked so fun! Unfortunately, while the pleating (folding the paper) was easy, I had a terrible time with this bow trying to keep the dots on top. Ugh. Still not happy with it, but decided to let it go and move on!

Don't forget my blog candy ends tonight at 9!

Well, that's about it for now. I've got another paper pleats card for you tomorrow - see ya then!

Thanks dropping by!

Supplies Used (all PTI):
Stamps: Friends Til the End
Ink: Plum Pudding
Paper: Bitty Box PP (Plum Pudding, Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart); White card stock
Accessories: Plum Pudding swiss dot ribbon

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Button Birdie Thank You

Hi y'all! Quick post today with a little 3" square card I made a few weeks ago after seeing the Everyday Button Bits set from PTI. These birds are just the cutest.I have to run, but I will be back tomorrow! Don't forget to play along for my BLOG CANDY that ends tomorrow at 9 PM EST!

Supplies Used:
Paper: PTI Melon Berry, Vintage Cream
Ink: Copics, Sharpie pen, PTI Chamomile ink
Accessories: PTI Melon Berry button & Ocean Tides grosgrain ribbon

Friday, August 14, 2009

Enjoy the Ride

TGIF y'all! :-) This card is the cutest thing. I love the ribbon grass! The sentiment is pretty fitting for today since on Monday, I start teacher workdays at a new school. I sure hope I enjoy the ride, which will probably start off with a few bumps as I learn the ropes. But hopefully, it will even out and be as fun as riding this bike looks like it would be.

Click to enlarge photo.
Again, my buddy Sandye provided this cute image. I colored it with a dark grey Copic marker and added a Melon Berry seat and wheels with some big ole buttons. Then, I decided I would stitch some ribbon scraps for grass. (Squeal!) I cut a slit in the green panel and tucked the white panel and grass in so that you couldn't see the stitches. Love it. I also stamped some polka dot outlines in Fresh Snow on the yellow card base, but its hard to see in the photo.

Hope you are all having a fab start to the weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used (all PTI):
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits, Polka Dot Basics
Ink: Fresh Snow, Chamomile; Black; Copic markers
Paper: Lemon Tart, New Leaf
Accessories: New Leaf & Spring Moss ribbons, Melon Berry twill ribbon, Melon Berry buttons

Thursday, August 13, 2009

I {heart} buttons ...

Hi! I love buttons. I have a lot of buttons. I should really use MORE buttons! :-) I made this card with the help of my SCS swappin' friend, Sandye, who was kind enough to send me some Button Bits images! :-) I plan to send it back to her with some couch images ... just because!The card base and buttons are Hibiscus Burst. I stamped some flourishes in Versamark ink onto the Lemon Tart base. And I had to add more stitch-pleated ribbon! I cannot stop. I am sorry! :-) I really love how this turned out. The sentiment is from the Vintage Picnic Sentiments.

I only have one day left of my "summer freedom" - its sad, but my husband just laughs at me. I am changing schools this year, so its a bit nervewracking. Lots of new things to learn and adjust to and set up. But I had my orientation today and the people are really nice. I mean, really nice. So, that is good and I think that once I get settled its going to be great!

Well, we are off to dinner and then to support Dairy Queen's charity blizzard event (not that you'd need an excuse for DQ!), but I have another button card I will share tomorrow ... I LOVE it! It's the cutest thing! See ya then!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used (all PTI):
Stamps: Fancy Flourishes, Everyday Button Bits, Vintage Picnic Sentiments
Ink: New Leaf, Raspberry Fizz; Versamark
Paper: Lemon Tart, Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, white
Accessories: Hibiscus Burst buttons, Summer Sunrise swiss dot ribbon

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Celebrate Today with a Giveaway!

Happy Wednesday! Well, I am just a few hits away from 10,000! Holy cannoli! I want to thank all of you who drop by on a regular basis and encourage me to keep on crafting! :-)

So, let's celebrate with some blog candy! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite color combo is! I will draw 2 winners on Monday 8/17/09 who will each receive a $10 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink!

Here's my "celebrate today" card! The little cupcakes are from a $1 Studio G set. They are actually cut out and popped up on foam tape, although its hard to see in the photo. This card is already on its way to a friend of mine - hope she likes it! :-) Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to hear what your favorite color combinations are! :-)

(Note - You have until 9 pm EST on Monday, 8/17/09 to tell me your favorite color combination by commenting on this post. Play fair - one comment per person. I will draw 2 winners at random and I will post the Blog Candy winners here on the blog on Tuesday, 8/18/09. Winners must claim their prize by Friday, 8/21/09 or another winner will be chosen.)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Studio G, PTI Cupcake Collection (sentiment)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics; PTI Dark Chocolate; Sakura glitter pen
Paper: PTI white, Dark Chocolate
Accessories: pink grosgrain from my stash; foam tape

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #14

Hiya! Dawn gave us another great Color Challenge this week. I will admit that I had a little bit of trouble combining these colors - mostly working in the purple. But, I am happy with the end result. Here's my card ....I started by stamping the large damask image from Damask Designs in Raspberry Fizz ink - I did roll the edges of the image in Scarlet Jewel ink before stamping it onto the Vintage Cream paper. I then overstamped that damask image with the text stamp in Plum Pudding ink.

If you look closely, the Scarlet Jewel panel and the card were stamped with a flourish from Fancy Flourishes in Versamark ink. I wanted it to be subtle to help give the card some more interest - Versamark is a great way to do this. Finally, I added a sentiment in Raspberry Fizz ink and used Chamomile ink on the card base and the image panel to give it a more vintage-y feel.

I am in love with the ribbon stitching lately ... in case you hadn't noticed! My buddy Banu from SCS asked me how I was doing this, so I made a tutorial that you can check out here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used (all Papertrey Ink unless noted):
Stamps: Damask Designs, Fancy Flourishes, Background Basics: Text Style
Ink: Raspberry Fizz, Scarlet Jewel, Plum Pudding, Chamomile; Versamark
Paper: Vintage Cream, Scarlet Jewel, Plum Pudding
Accessories: Raspberry Fizz grosgrain

How-To: Stitching Pleated Ribbon

Hi everyone! Well, I have been pretty obsessed with stitching ribbon onto my cards recently. Makes perfect sense because I have been sewing way longer than I have been stamping! Anyway, there are lots of ways to pleat ribbon - many people use adhesive to hold it down; however, I don't use any adhesive - just stitchin'. My buddy from SCS, Banu, asked me for a tutorial, so here you go ...

First, I'll show you most of the supplies I used. The white panel is 2.5 x 3.5 and the purple is 2.75 x 3.75. (I make a lot of 4.25" square cards, so I have lots of 2.5" strips leftover! Perfect for these smaller panels!) I also have a card base, Copic markers, PTI Vintage Picnic stamp set, some ribbon, and ink. (Not shown here, but used in the tutorial: Polka Dot Basics I & II, Spring Moss & Fresh Snow ink, and Chamomile ink - all PTI).
Click on photos for enlarged view.So, go ahead and stamp your image and get to coloring! :-) Notice that I used one brown marker for the basket. To create the shading of the weave, I colored over some spots twice to make it darker. Don't forget to "age" your panel with the Chamomile ink.
Now, cut a piece of ribbon about 3x as wide as your panel. Here I am using grosgrain - my favorite for this, but satin works well too, although its a bit more slippery under the sewing machine.
Now, move to your sewing machine. (I use my regular sewing machine - its a Bernina Activa 210. I do use a different needle (an old one) for my paper projects. Otherwise, nothing fancy/different.)

Leave a little overhang off the image panel. I do 1 to 2 back stitches to anchor the ribbon and then lift my foot, need down as shown:
Now, fold some ribbon under the foot to create the pleat. (Sometimes I rotate my pleat a little to the right or left to give the finished look a little more movement. But I am keeping in straight here.)
Ok, now ... drop your foot back down on top of the pleat. And stitch over the pleat.
Good job! :-) You've done one pleat! Now, let's do it again. Lift the presser foot, needle down.
And make another pleat ....
Continue the process to the end of your panel. I like to do another backstitch or 2 at the end to anchor the threads. Here is my sample all stitched down.
Ok, for the card base, I stamped the littlest dots in Spring Moss ink onto Spring Moss card stock. Then over stamped with the polka dots outline in Fresh Snow ink. Then, I added the sentiment.
Now, attach your image to the mat and then to the card. Here's my finished cards.
Notice the different baskets - just by coloring the opposite weaves. Again, all with one marker. The card on the left with the Ocean Tides ribbon is a little "wonkier" because I rotated my pleats as I was stitching. (Note - rotate before putting the presser foot down.)

Well, I hope this little "how-to" was helpful! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and ask away. I'd also love to see projects you create with stitched ribbon! :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Vintage Picnic, Polka Dot Basics I & II
Ink: Spring Moss, Fresh Snow; Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic markers
Paper: Spring Moss, Lavender Moon, White
Accessories: Ocean Tides grosgrain, Enchanted Evening grosgrain

Monday, August 10, 2009

Blogger RAKs

Hi again! Just popping in to say thanks to Deborah for the beautiful RAK she sent me. I love the colors she used. Thanks for brightening up my mailbox, Deborah! :-)
I also sent out a couple of Blogger RAKs today. Here's a look at one of them ... (again with the same layout and stitched ribbon!)
Supplies Used (Snail Mail card):
Stamps: PTI Vintage Picnic
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics; PTI Chamomile
Paper: PTI White, Scarlet Jewel
Other: PTI Summer Sunrise swiss dot satin

Birdie Birthday

Monday, Monday ... this is my last week of "freedom" so I met this Monday not too happily! LOL Anyway ... I did a few more mass produced birthday cards. I am totally digging this layout - simple, clean and easy peasy! I don't think I am going to give up on it anytime soon :-)

For this card, I stamped the bird from the Unity July 09 KOTM and colored it with Copic markers. The edges of the image panel are sponged with PTI Chamomile ink. The sentiment is from PTI Vintage Picnic. I love that typerwriter and cursive paired together in these sentiments.Off to catch up on some things around the house ... Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Unity July 09 KOTM; PTI Vintage Picnic
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic markers; PTI - Chamomile
Paper: PTI - SSW, Summer Sunrise
Accessories: PTI Berry Sorbet grosgrain

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Vacation Wrap Up

I don't know about you, but this past week and weekend went by WAY too fast! (Then again, maybe that is just because I was at the beach and am facing my last week of freedom before us teachers have to drag our butts back to work!)

We went to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse while we were in the OBX. This is one of my favorite photos that my mister took. He likes to try and get all artsy with the camera, so we rode around the lighthouse and he got this shot through the trees.
While we were on vacation, I took some limited crafting supplies with me. Here are the other cards I made while I was away (without ribbon mind you)!

First up ... a little card with a Studio G stamp set. Can't not get a stamp set with a doughnut, Popsicle, and cupcake for $1! :-) Paper is from My Minds Eye, Bazzil, and a Basic Grey ribbon tied with a tiny string of paper.
This card was from a card kit that I took along with me ... don't know anything about the gingham paper or image.
And finally, another card kit card. Don't know anything about the patterned paper or image here either. But I think this image is so cute ... I wish I had more of them!
That is all for now! Dawn just posted another color challenge and I had some fun with the PTI Vintage Picnic set last night, so I will be back tomorrow with more cards!

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Happy Birthday

Hi all! Back from the Rodanthe, NC (in the Outer Banks) and back in my craft room! :-) I need to send out some birthday RAKs, so I got to work mass producing the card below using some tips from Mish. She is the queen of mass producing cards and this is great when you have a lot of cards to make. Choose a simple design, cut and stamp all your parts and assemble in assembly line fashion. This is also great if you are working on a project over the course of several crafting sessions. Cut all at one session. Stamp at another. Color at the next. Assemble last! :-) This card uses an image from the July 09 Unity Kit of the Month. I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copic markers. The image panels are edged in Papertrey Chamomile ink. I added a sentiment from PTI's Vintage Picnic and some stitched ribbon. These came together so quickly - I think I did like 10 in an hour and a half. :-)

I am working on editing some photos that my hubs took of Cape Hatteras this week. He likes to try and get artsy shots - he'll sit on the deck, camera ready on the ledge, just waiting for the perfect sunset moment. The one below was taken on the sound side of the island. He came inside and was like let's go. We drove over to the otherside of the block (our rental house was located between the ocean and the sound maybe a mile wide) and ran down this little pier. We only got one shot because it was kind of marshy in the particular spot we walked out to and the skeeters immediately attacked us. One photo and we ran back to the car! :-)
Thanks for stopping by! I will have some lighthouse photos tomorrow as well as a couple more cards I made with my limited supplies at the beach :-)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Unity July 09 KOTM; PTI Vintage Picnic
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, PTI Chamomile
Paper: PTI white; SU! Certainly Celery
Other: PTI Hibiscus Burst grosgrain, sewing machine

Friday, August 7, 2009

Checking in ...

Hi friends! We are wrapping up our week at the beach in Rodanthe. I will certainly miss lounging by the pool tomorrow and reading. I finished my book - "Vanishing Acts" by Jodi Picoult and it was great. I need to go and pick up another one of her books! I promise to add some photos from the beach in the next few days. :-)
In other news, I found this week that I have been chosen as a guest designer for Ellie's Stamp Garden. I will be serving in the month of December featuring some TAC stamps. Check out Ellie's blog here.

I also found out today that I made the top 15 on Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge. Check out all the other awesome card makers here.

That's all for now ... I will be back tomorrow with scenic photos and some card creations!

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Poolside Reading

Hey y'all! I am poolside this week enjoying some time away with family. I managed to finish one book today and start a new one. I finished "The Front" by Patricia Cornwell. I really love her books, but I prefer her Scarpetta series.

The new book that I started is called "Vanishing Acts" by Jodi Picoult (photo below from Amazon.com). I am 3 chapters in and hooked! I can't wait to tear through the rest. I first got hooked on Picoult a few months ago when I traveled to California for work. A coworker told me about her and I picked up "My Sister's Keeper" (prior to knowing the movie was coming out) and tore through it in about 3 days. I haven't seen the movie, but the book was awesome.

Speaking of books, the beach house we are staying at is right across the street from the house used in the movie "Nights in Rodanthe!" We have been cracking up at all the folks stopping to take pictures next to the house. :-) I still need to read this one (and watch the movie)!

Thanks for stopping by! I will be back with some cards this weekend, if not before! :-)

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Limited Supply Bella

Hey y'all! I am doing some traveling this week and I can't not make cards for that long, so I decided to bring along some card kits that I got through some card kit swaps on Splitcoaststampers.com. It is almost like a Limited Supplies Challenge - I brought kits, white card stock, all my Copics, a couple of stamp sets that you can color with, a bag of colored card stock scraps, adhesive, scissors, and foam tape. That's it and that's all I have to work with! :-) Here's the first card I've made ...Please excuse my poor photo - I don't have much of an editing program on this laptop. I think this turned out really cute. The paper, sentiment, and image are from the kit. I colored the Bella, cut her out and stacked everything on a 4-1/4" square card. I happened to have enough of this Rose Red (by SU!) card stock and that scalloped black piece in my scrap stash with me to make this. Love it! The Bella and the sentiments were cut out and popped up on foam tape. It's hard to see in the photo, but I added some glitter with a Sakura pen around the edges of the sentiment and also on the girl's bags, etc.

I hope to post a few more limited supplies cards over the course of the week. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving comments - I really appreciate your visits and kind words! :-)