It will get warm, right?

I received this cute Snag'em stamp FREE from Mothers and Daughters Creations. They sent one to everyone who joined their group on PCP. Wasn't that nice? They have a nice store, and a challenge blog, too. I've bought some Basic Gray and a really beautiful nativity stamp from them. They are a good company. I used Anna Wight's stamps for the sentiment and the background. I was rooting around for a sentiment when I ran across her Happy Birthday set, which I love! It was hard for me not to ditch the project I was working on so I could play with the Happy Birthday set.

That's all for now!

Two Challenge Card & PUBLISHED AGAIN!

This is for two challenges! The Stamp Something Challenge Blog and High Hopes! I used the sketch from SS and the border treatment challenge from HH. I LOVE my sweet new bunny from HH. It took him a long time to get all the way to the Oklahoma Panhandle from Canada, but he and several unexpected (THANKS HIGH HOPES!) friends arrived a few days ago. I love them all! Well worth the wait!

I got the June issue of Scrap and Stamp Arts, and two cards made it in! I'm so thrilled! Also, one of my very favorite artists, stampers and bloggers, Anna Wight, has a whole page to herself!! You don't want to miss this one!

We had a crazy white out blizzard for about two hours today. Now we have blue skies! Ah, spring! Love it!!

May God Bless You

I think I may have made this for a challenge. I think. Maybe. But I can't remember. I'm not the most organized person around. I could have just made this for no reason at all. I guess we'll never really know, will we?

The sentiment is from A Chemistry With Paper's Spiritual Sentiments set. I think ACWP has my favorite sentiments. And GinaK's Tag Lines is pretty indispensable as well.

I can't quit using Bazzil Bling! This is Emerald City, and it pretty much looks beautiful with every image from Crafty Secret's Birds and Botanicals booklet. I pressed the image into my VersaMark pad and covered it in Clear ep. I used detail, and only one coat, so it's still pretty thin. You can get different effects depending on the type of ep you use. I have detail, regular and UTEE, all of which I use regularly. If I could only choose one, I'd stick with detail. It can do what the others do, with enough layers, but the others can't do what it does. If you are new to embossing powder, start with detail, even if it is a little more expensive. Another ep hint: I never use black. It's messy. I always stamp in VersaFine Onyx and emboss in SU! Crystal Clear Detail.

Camilla's Blog Candy

Camilla is offering the coolest blog candy! You have to name two blogging friends who you will share the candy with if you win. I'm going to share with Amy and Pat. (If I win!) These two girls support me rain or shine! I don't know how they keep up with so many blogs and make us all feel so cared for! Some people are just like that, I guess.

Birthday Wishes

This stamp is from Creative Play Stamps' Bear Cub and Wolf set. I think they are perfect for man cards. I used scraps and made his eyes green with Niji wc paint.

This card was a sketch challenge I found out about on my good friend, Pat's blog, Stamp, Paper and Ink. She designs for Shirley's 2 Girls, and even though I don't have any of their stamps, I still wanted to play to support Pat. She works so well with these stamps. I think they were made for each other!!

Home Sweet Home

Every Tuesday over on the Crafty Secrets member company forum on SCS, a new challenge is posted, this is #61. I will be the hostess on April 6th, so I hope you can join us! This week was a theme challenge, and it was HOME. I just went straight to my Homemade Image and Journal Notes booklet and tore out this pretty image, and built a card around it. No stamping here.

The base is Bazzill Canvas Maraschino Red. I get all my Bazzill at Creative Cuts and More. I also got the Basic Gray rub on I used here there. And the die cut buckle. I like to ask for the buckle to be cut in chipboard and a cardstock. Then I run them through my X Xyron and glue them together. They are sturdy and can handle whatever treatment you can dish out.

I finished this card off with a few shots of my favorite Chestnut Brown Glimmer Mist.

We're off for a snow day today. BIG spring blizzard-for the Panhandle. Personally, I think they should call snow days STAMP DAYS, because that's what I always do. I know some people probably catch up on laundry and work on the house. Not me. Life's short. My boys trash the house minutes after it's clean, so I prefer to stamp. I do a lot less shrieking about spots, crumbs and clutter when I've been stamping than when I've been cleaning. Trying to keep a clean house turns me into a shrew, so I just take care of the basics. Now how's that for a pile of persuasive rhetoric?

Crayon Kids & Creative Cuts and More Challenge

Well I didn't make this card today... I also didn't make any cards today, so I'm posting one I made a few weeks ago and never posted.

I used an old SU! Simply Scrappin' kit and some old rub ons for this one. These rub ons went down pretty nicely, but they aren't staying down very well. Rub ons have a very limited shelf life. Never buy more than you KNOW you'll use in a year, or you will have some useless rub ons!

March Customer Challenge..."Love/Wedding"

The Creative Cuts and More Design Team had a fantastic time showing you all of our "wedding" themed projects during our first ever blog hop. Hopefully we have inspired you to create some stunning projects of your own.

NOW for our "March Customer Challenge", we would like you to run with our "Love/Wedding" theme and show us all of the fabulous creations you can make with the die cuts from Creative Cuts and More. You will have plenty of time to order from the Creative Cuts and More online store, design and post your projects to your own blog or gallery. Please, don't forget to leave your link here on this post. The deadline is April 15, 2009 11:59PM MDT!

Now you are probably wondering...is there a prize...YES three prizes!!

First place will receive: $15 gift certificate to CC&M

Second place will receive: $10 gift certificate to CC&M

Third place will receive: $5 gift certificate to CC&M

All three winners will be able to use their gift certificates towards any of the many products on the Creative Cuts and More website.

What are you waiting for... click on over to Creative Cuts and More and get your Diecut Diva groove on!

Art Share Game!!

SHARE YOUR ART!! I was over at Mary's blog, Moe Joe Designs, and she's invited/challenged us to share our art!

Here's how: The first 4 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! Could be a card with which I am really pleased, a pin I made, a doodle or something else all together! My choice!

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make although I hope you do!

2. What I create will be made with you in mind so you won't get something I already made unless I think it suits you to a T.

3. It'll be done sometime within the next 2 months.

4. You have no clue what it's going to be.

5. The catch is that you must offer this blog candy on your blog! Re-post this on your blog, offer something you make - your choice - to the first 4 people who do the same on your blog (then come here and post). Be sure to add my name to the #1 line on your blog post - I am the first participant and I am already offering to share. When you create your give-away you will be the #1 spot for players 2-5 on your list. The first 4 people to post this on their blogs and leave a comment here telling me they did (I will go to your blog to check that you have this posted) will get an art share handmade item from me. Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! SO ...................who will be next????

1. Carla

2. Veronica

3.

4.

5.

Sounds like fun, huh!?!!???? So wanna play?

Thanks for stopping by!

Many Blessings,
Carla

Spring Time Box

So, I made a box... A couple of weeks ago...

I have always admired the wonderful boxes I see on my favorite blogs and in Somerset magazine. I've even bought boxes, like this one, but I've never done a serious altering job like this before. I've painted boxes, and covered them with DP, maybe added some ribbon and a trinket or two, but this is the queen of all my boxes. I added stuff until I could add no more!

I bought the house shape a few months ago, really having nothing in mind. Then when I decided to make a box, I found it while I was rummaging around. With the help of some paint, an Artisitc Outpost stamp from the Bluebird plate, and some Crafty Secrets Spring Joys stickers and the bottom of a Birds and Botanicals Image and Journal Notes page, I was set.

I bought the birds at Christmas. They were white. I gave them a few sprays of my Black Cherry Glimmer Mist, and tah dah, robins! BC is the most pigmented of the many GMs I have. It's a little scary, actually, because it's very bright, and not as sheer as the others I have. It still has the characteristic beautiful shimmer, though!

There's just a little bit of everything on here! Basic Gray Pattern Paper Offbeat, Marcella by K adhesive ribbon, plastic shelf lace, puffy pipe cleaners, German Plaza Mica Flakes, old book pages, adhesive pearls, ribbon roses, Crystal & Cotton Candy Stickles, Modge Podge, Hobby Lobby flowers, sparkly tulle, lace ribbon, and the kitchen sink, but I put it in the box so you can't actually see it.

Easter Wall Hanging

I subscribed to Teresa McFayden's latest Ezine, Cottage Bella, and this is one of the many projects in it. It's a really cool zine, and you can get to it through her blog, My Minutia

18yods had this to say: "Oh, this is a cool thing. Weird, but cool." I said, "I made it." He said, "Oh, I figured dad made it." He, of course did not think that DH made it. The only things DH actually makes are biscuits, pizza dough, beans and steak. Oddly artsy wall hangings are not in his repertoire. I'm sure you can tell already that DH is a tad more useful in a pinch than I am .

The main images are Crafty Secrets stickers from the Spring Joys sheet. I framed them with a Basic Gray bookplate and added a little Crystal Stickles. But that goes without saying, doesn't it?

I freehand cut the flower out of a literature book. Sacrilegious, I know. While I can wax eloquent for hours on the evils of book burning, I never once said it was a bad thing to cut up a 50 year old lit text book. Especially if you are making something of great import, such as a shimmer sprayed paper flower.

I collect small old bottles, so I just chose one that would fit here. I wound a little copper wire and added a few beads and some vintage seam binding.

That about sums it up! If you are looking for a fun, cottagy, non card based project, go see Teresa!

Tinkering Ink

So, I made a card today...

No stamping. I have recently come under the evil influence of several scrapper's blogs. Scrappers are product driven when they make a card. They get all the latest and coolest things and arrange them artfully and glue them down. Stampers are stamp driven when they make a card. They choose a stamp and arrange the other elements around that and glue it all down. It's all fun!!

I think the base here is Pink Passion, and all the rest is Tinkering Ink except for the Basic Gray ribbon and the OTC brads.

Fresh

So, I made a card today...

I love this set from A Chemistry With Paper. It's called Autumn Picking. I wanted to see if I could make this fall set more summery. It didn't work. I went straight for my favorite three fall colors: dusty green, orange & purple. It looks totally fallish. That's okay, though! I like fall, not as much as I like spring, but I still like it.

I've been on a scrap tear. I'm trying to use up as much as I can. I just hate the thought of packing and moving scraps. I don't think I will. I'll use up what I can and give the rest to my school.

So Thoughtful

So, I made a card today...

Actually, I didn't make THIS card today, but I did make a card today! This card is from an SCS challenge. You were to cut the side off a sealed envelope, then run the larger part through a crimper so it would slide into the smaller part. Then you make a little flat card for inside.

I used Wildflower Silhouettes. It's one of Anna Wight's newer sets from Whipper Snapper. I could color and stamp these flowers all day. They are not only beautiful, but forgiving. No perfection required here. Which makes them perfect for me.

The interesting thing I want to point out here is a punch technique I came up with all by myself!! I'm not saying someone else hasn't already done this. I'm saying I didn't learn it from someone else, I discovered it on my own. I'm referring to the scalloped edge. I made a scalloped edge with the slit punch as usual. Then I turned the scalloped edge into the punch, and punched out every other scallop. I thought it turned out pretty well! Maybe I'll do a tutorial on it some time!!

Happy Easter!!

So, I made a card today...

These stamps are from A Chemistry With Paper's Bunny and Friends. It's a pretty cute set, it also has a duck and a lamb, so it's perfect for this time of year! I think my earache is affecting my stamping, though. I made this entire card, including stamping a matching envelope. Then, when I went to nest the card and the envy to put them aside, I realized that the card was bigger than the A2 envy. I cut five sheets of Whisper White cardstock WRONG! How many hundreds of card bases have I cut in the last nine years? Not enough, apparently, to always get it right! So, I made an envelope with The Enveloper. It's really great to have on hand in case you totally forget how to cut an A2 card base.

Shadow Box for DS's 18th Birthday

So, I made a box today...

I'm going to be very brief here because I think I have an ear infection. My ear hurts. A LOT.

This box is full of symbolism both subtle and obvious. The photo of Walt Whitman is there because he's DS's favorite poet. The heart is my heart, my love. On the heart is a silver cross. I actually cut the back off an earring to get the cross. I want DS to always walk with Christ. The pearls are pearls of wisdom. The key can be looked at several ways, as the key to __?___

Here's wishing healthy ears to you all. Man, you just take ears for granted, don't you? Now I know why DS (the same one I made the box for), used to wake up crying. He still gets ear infections. No fun!!

Creative Cuts & More Dress Card Two Ways

So, I made a card today...

The is the same dress die cut card as my wedding card from a couple of weeks ago, and the same Ice Silver cardstock as well. I wanted to post the first one again so you could get an idea of how different these cards can be. Imagine the possiblities with all the cardstock choices CC&M offers!

For my second version, all I did was attach a piece of Heidi Grace flocked paper to the inside front of the card. It looks pretty on the inside as well because this paper's backside shimmers! The glitter dots were easy to make. I put a small glue dot on each scallop, then adhered an American Traditional Designs Dome Sticker UPSIDE DOWN. Now my dots have an exposed sticky surface. Of course the only thing to do in a case like this is to cover the circles with Doodlebug Sugar Coated Glitter in Beetle Black. I used these ATG stickers instead of glue dots because glue dots aren't perfectly symetrical, and I wanted perfect for this card. I added a Doodlebug Jewel in the middle of the Offray satin ribbon.  It's hard to see in the pic, but it's a nice touch IRL.

For the inside, I used an Art Accents word sticker, and the same DB glitter. This was a very quick card! Wouldn't it be cute for a prom invite or a Sweet Sixteen party? 

Happy Spring!

So, I made a card today...

Here's another Whipper Snapper card!! The flower pot and the sentiment are from Anna Wight's Bo Peep set. I don't know who the bunny is by.

Well, I guess I didn't hold out very well on Anna's new Whipper Snapper sets. I ordered Little Critters, Spring Has Sprung and Happy Birthday. I have loved my first three sets, and know I will love these, too! Little Critters is new, the other two are older.

I think oldest DS is sold on Tulane. It looks like DH and I are poor enough for cost not to be too big a problem. For once the pitance that teachers make is working to our advantage! His Presidential Merit Scholarship will cover close to half, then we should be eligible for other aid. Do I want him to be so far away? NO! Do I want him to get a terrific education at a wonderful school? YES!

New Anna Wight Whipper Snapper Releases!!

So, I made a card today...

Actually, I didn't!! This is a scheduled post. We are on our way to Albuquerque for a Tulane meeting.

I'm posting this card because Anna's new sets come out today! I've seen bits and pieces of them, and I know I'm going to love them. I'm holding onto my wallet for dear life, we'll see how that goes!

These gorgeous Lupine are from Anna's Wildflower Silhouettes set. I have enjoyed playing with this set and am so glad to have it! I paired it here with K & Co's Blue Awning paper. It's fun to color the flowers to match whatever DP you are using. This paper is so beautiful that is was almost painful to cut into. Not only is the pattern exquisite, but it's embossed as well. I think these flowers hold their own against this gorgeous paper.

I could get in serious trouble with these Maya Road velvet flowers. I could carry this card around the house with me and prop it in view and never get tired of it. Not because of anything I did, but because of the paper, stamps and flower. They are all so pretty, I could never tire of them!

Song of Spring

So, I made a card today...

Lots of my favorite things here! The primary image is a Heartwarming Vintage Sticker by Crafty Secrets. It's from the Spring Joys sheet. If you are too sophisticated for stickers, you haven't worked with Crafty Secrets stickers! I know the stickers you are thinking about when you hear the word stickers! My sister has thousands of them.

ADVICE BREAK: Don't buy too much of anything, no matter how much you love it!

Also, I have nesties and Stickles and Basic Gray, oh my! And Antique Brass Glimmer Mist. I think Key Lime would have been beautiful on this, too. I am such a creature of habit, I always grab my favorites without stopping to think that I may actually have something which would work better.

I glue my faux Dew Drops down with my Two Way Glue Pen, they seem to stay on pretty well, and it seems quicker and easier to me than glue dots. Probably cheaper, too, as I plow through an insane amount of glue dots!!

I'll be gone for a few days. I'm going to schedule a post, but if you don't hear from me, it's because I'm off with my peeps! I hope you are enjoying your spring break, if you get one!

Love and Be Loved!

I made this little wall hanging for a challenge over on the Sugar Nellie forum on SCS. The stamps here are from the new Gorjuss line. They might be the easiest stamps I've ever colored. Well, these and Whipper Snapper. I stamped the girl and her cat on Canson WC paper, then painted them with markers and Niji paints. All the paper is from Dena's Closet by Colorbok. I love this line, but doubt very much that it is still available.

I bought the window at Hobby Lobby. I painted it, then covered it in Ranger Crackle Accents and sprinkled Art Institute Miss Muppet glitter all over it. Next time I'll just use Diamond Glaze, because the glitter covered up the crackles. I added a silver pipe cleaner around the edges, and a paper flower in the center.

The verse is a few layers of patterned paper and vellum, and a Labels One cereal box die cut covered in paper. I made the tulle flower for the back to give the hanging a little more presence and a bit of glitz. I think I'm out of this tulle. I need to get more because I love to make flowers with it.

Warm & Fuzzy

So, I made a card today...

I have some of these adorable Magnolia stamps, but I rarely use them. They are fun and easy to color. Some people seem to be a tad freaked out by the lack of mouths, but it doesn't bother me. They aren't actual children lacking mouths and having wings. I just apply my suspension of disbelief and go on. I am, after all, an English and drama teacher. I'm down with the whole suspension of disbelief thing. It works in the stamp world, too. Seriously, if you are willing to accept a horse standing on its hind legs and balancing a cake on his front hoof, or adorable mice EVERYWHERE, including in FOOD, then why not mouthless, wing sporting kids?

The base here is SU! Very Vanilla. I have no idea about the rest of the paper. Something cheap, in other owrds, not one of the big guys we all love. I colored with Distress Inks and Niji watercolor paints. The sentiment is from Asela Hopkins' Warm & Fuzzy by GinaK. The heart brads are Art Accentz, there's a Soft Subtle eyelet, and SU! punch & ribbon.

Posies for You

So, I made a card today...

It just so happens to be my very first Whipper Snapper card, made with Anna's first set! I have admired Anna Wight's art for years, and why I didn't get some WS stamps before now, I don't know. I have three sets, and I just love them! Love them!! I have 20 of them on my wish list. This card uses SU! Kraft cs as a base, and the rest is all HOTP. The ribbon is SU!.

Grow

So, I made a card today...

I have a hard time covering Bazzill Bling cardstock. It's so pretty, it just glows. And it has interesting texture.  The image is from the Birds and Botanicals Heartwarming Vintage Images and Journal Notes. I gave it a few good sprays with Antique Brass Glimmer Mist, added a few punches, some Stickles and a touch of beautiful May Arts ribbon. This is another especially quick card. I am NOT turning into a CAS stamper, though, so don't get any ideas. I still love to put as much as possible on a card, it's just that CAS is so quick!! And perhaps a tad more soothing and restful than my usual work;)

We are back to cold, and of course still windy here, but it should warm up again this weekend. Our Spring Break is  next week. We will be heading over to Albuquerque to go to a meeting Tulane University is hosting there. Our oldest son had been offered their largest scholarship, and he really wants to go. I want him to go also, but we are now scrambling to see if we can come up with the other half of the $46k per year!! We only have to come up with 22k, since they are giving him the rest. I think I'd better go start looking under the couch cushions. Why didn't I become a plumber or a welder or a salesperson? I understand that there are many people who make more money than school teachers;)