Best Friends

Love this sweet Magnolia stamp! Did you know that I won the entire Pet Collection 2009 from Magnolia? I did! I have no idea what the Pet Collection is, I don't think it has been released yet. I have looked all over the English side of the Magnolia site and can't figure anything out. I'm still happy, because I do love these stamps!

I punched a book page and made a paper flower, which I sprayed with Chestnut Glimmer Mist. The brad was some way too bright color, and I dipped into Classy Copper ep-now I like it! I added some Copper Stickles as well. It's not like I've ever had any restraint with the copper, why start now? The rub on is Basic Gray, and the note page is Crafty Secrets Childhood Images and Journal Notes. The frame is an Anna Griffin stamp. I love to use it with Magnolia stamps.

Well, I'm off to help oldest DS with his graduation announcements. *sniff, sniff*

If you have one true friend...

When I saw a card using this stamp on Pat's blog, I was sunk. I just love the saying and the image, and had to have it. Pat designs for Shirley's 2 Girls, and I made this card for their Twisted Thursday challenge. I'm barely making it in, but it's Wednesday, so I think I'm still good!! OOPS! I just visited the blog, and this challenge is due on Sunday nights! I am definitely late!!

This is all My Mind's Eye Kaliedoscope, and Brilliant Blue. The little tiles are Heidi Grace. I actually have no idea what I'm supposed to do with these things. I've just been storing them for quite some time now! If you have any idea what they are for, please, let me know!!

Gorjuss Vagabond

I didn't really intend for this card to be quite so gothic, but Basic Gray's Vagabond just wants to go this way! This Gorjuss Girl is from Sugar Nellie. The second set of Girls is already out, but I missed out on the preorder, and now they are out of stock. They are wildly popular and hard to come by. I suppose I'll get the second set eventually.

I embossed this image on watercolor paper and used my markers and reinkers to color it. The flourishes are Autumn Leaves stamps. The jewels are Doodlebug, the rubon, Basic Gray. I added a little Black Diamond Stickles to the nestie scalloped circle, and finished the whole thing off with s few shots of shimmer spray.

This is a Card Positioning Systems sketch.

Christmas Morning

I rarely make scrapbook pages. I rarely use navy blue. So I make two pages within two weeks of each other and they are both navy! I just  had a navy kind of feeling from both of the pictures. I was happily using my Doodlebug metallic paper and my Joanne's snowflake brads when it occurred to me that it didn't really snow in Houston. Oh well. I don't think the scrapbook police will come all the way to the Oklahoma Panhandle to cite me for "nonsensical layouts!"

Many of these old photos from my childhood say Polaroid on the back, but they don't look like the kind that comes from inside those old Polaroid cameras. They have a very stiff cardboard back, with a regular photo on the front. I had to stack a book and several boxes on this LO to get the pic to stay on the page. It wanted to curl off, plus it's hard to stick things to Magic Mesh. Isn't this MM pretty? It comes in 7x7 squares. I used the whole package on this LO.

Daisy & Gina

More Daisy D's here. I love it. **Sigh** Today I paired it with GinaK's Take Flight set. I think they are beautiful together. The ribbon is vintage seam binding. I added some Art Glitter in Flax. I get my Art Glitter, which is my favorite glitter of all, at Creative Play Stamps. Remember, CPS is having an amazing contest right now! Click on over and check it out!! I can't enter, but I am eligible to vote! Please LMK if you enter, and I'll go vote for you!!

I made this card for Cammie's Color Challenge over on GinaK's StampTV. We were to use at least four colors. I have red, yellow, green, black & brown!!

Cherished

All the patterned paper on this card is Daisy D's. I am so sad that they have met their demise. This stuff is closer to card stock than paper, seriously! Gorgeous and high quality. How could they go under? I've had these sweet Magnolias for five months or more, and they had not been inked yet. They are a blast to color! I've been using my Prismas and Gamsol lately. I think the learning curve is shorter on this technique than on any watercoloring technique. I've been working on my wc for over a year, and I'm still not Anna Wight. That hardly seems fair to me. I guess now I'll have to work with my Prismas for a year and then come to grips with the fact that I'm still not Artfully Ila!! However, I'm not too depressed about it!! I just tell myself that I have other skills. It may not be true, but that's what I tell myself. Just kidding. But seriously.

DoubleMates Circle Card

Have you worked with DoubleMates cardstock yet? I love it! It is a different shade of the same color on each side. This color is Belgium Blue, and it has a light side and a dark side. Doublemates are just one of the many cardstock choices available at Creative Cuts and More, which is where I got this circle card. After I received my card from CC&M, I did three things:

1. Applied Making Memories rub on to the front.
2. Cut and embossed the scalloped circle with my nesties.
3. Added fabric tag from MM.

How easy is that? When I order from CC&M, I like to add a piece of the same cardstock I've ordered the die cut out of. That way I can layer to my heart's content. When I ordered the circle card, I didn't have a specific plan, but I'm glad I had the extra piece of Belgium Blue DoubleMates, becuase this card would not have turned out as well without the perfect match!

Grandpa & Me

I made this page for a challenge over at GinaK's StampTV. I would like to do at least one page a week this year. I am about 20 pages behind. Oh well. This is a picture of my grandpa and I in his Jackson Heights apartment. I had probably been out to Bloomingdales with Grandma in my snappy navy and white outfit. Maybe we had Italian ices on the corner. I still remember how excited Grandma would get when we flew over the Statue of Liberty. She lived in New York City for probably 45 years, and she never tired of it.


Here I used an old My Mind's Eye kit for the image and paper. I stamped images from Picture Frames and Polka Dots and Flourishes from Creative Play Stamps to add a little zing to the bottom layer. Blues Whale Art Glitter surrounds the mother daughter image. Why it has the angled stripes, I do not know. I have never seen glitter do this before. I use QUITE a bit of glitter, and this is a new one for me. Static, maybe?

BTW, don't forget the OUTRAGEOUS contest CPS is holding now! Click on the link about for more deets!! Can you say HUGE BAG OF PRIMAS?

Wham, Bam...

Thank you, Ma' am. It's chaos here. Sick cat. Many messes. Much laundry. Bad smells. Very bad smells. Gagging teenage boys. You can see I don't have much time here! I did want to tell you that the bird card was made using a digi image from my good friend Lindsay! Isn't it cool? I also used a GinaK sentiment from Take Flight.

The bottom card is a Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Girl-love them!

Crafty Secrets, Arabelle & CONTEST

Lots of Crafty Secrets here, including Sweet Chips Chipboard, and a Birds & Botanicals Image. I pared the CS stuff with some old SU! designer paper. The mother of pearl buttons are vintage. I added touches of Aqua Stickles throughout. I get my Stickles at Creative Play Stamps. CPS is having an AMAZING CONTEST right now. In addition to gift certificates, you can win a bag of Primas the size of a CHILD'S PILLOW and weighs HALF A POUND!! I covet this bag of Primas so much, I have considered quitting the DT so I would be eligible for the contest! You must go see it in all its enormous glory, then get stamping!!!

Win a bag of Prima Flowers (and a CreativePlayStamps.com gift
certificate) in our April Showers Bring May Flowers contest!

Just go to our Contest Forum here:
http://www.creativeplaystamps.com/forum_threads/forum/5

log in, and upload a picture of your flower or garden themed card.
That's it!

The winner will be chosen by a vote of our customers. Voting starts May
9th, and ends May 22nd. There are three prizes available:
1st Prize: Big Bag of Prima Flowers and a $30 Gift Certificate
2nd Prize: $15 Gift Certificate
3rd Prize: $10 Gift Certificate

The bag of flowers is about the size of a child's pillow - 13" tall, and
9" wide - and weighs 1/2 a pound!

The contest starts Friday, April 17th. You have until Midnight on May
8th to submit your entry.

The details on entering:
- No purchase is required to enter the contest.
- You must log in before submitting your contest entry - anonymous
entries won't count
- You must upload your contest entry by Midnight, May 8th.
- Your entry must be a card
- Your entry must have a flower or garden theme
- You may enter as many times as you like (but you may only want to do
one or two so you don't split your own vote)
- Do not mail us your cards - you must scan or photograph them yourself
(or have someone do it for you)
- Pictures must have a file size of 2MB or smaller
- A description of how you made it would be nice, and may get you more
votes, but is not required
- The CreativePlayStamps.com design team is not eligible to enter

The details on voting:
- You must log in to vote
- One vote per person
- You may change your vote at any time prior to the end of voting
- To prevent ballot stuffing (this is Chicago after all!), a prior
purchase is required to vote
- The CreativePlayStamps.com design team can vote
- The polls close at Midnight, May 22nd.

We will post the winners on the site by May 26th, and we'll also
announce them in the newsletter. As always, don't hesitate to contact
us if you're having trouble logging in, or participating.

Celebrate Spring! Upload your cards, cheer on your friends, and come see
the beauty that's been created!

Laura and Art


My friend Pat designs for Shirley's 2 Girls. I love the work she does with S2G stamps, and was finally unable to resist any longer! I love my stamps, and the service was supersonic!!

I *heart* Creative Cuts and More felt hearts!

Isn't this cake stamp sweet? It's from GinaK's Sweetest Blessings set, as is the sentiment. The flower base is from Best Fishes. It's actually a starfish! This cake is fun to color, and I love the font in this set, and the fact that this sentiment fits in one of my favorite punches!! I made this for the glitter challenge over on SampTV. It was so hard for me to put glitter on this card! (NOT!)

Terry over at CC&M cut me a bunch of these felt hearts a couple of months ago, and I find myself reaching for them over and over! The link here is for the page with all the dies you can have cut out of felt. There are lots of choices in shapes and colors of felt. I also got a bunch of butterfly dies last week in gorgeous spring colored cardstocks and I can't wait to put them to good use.

This little cutie is one of Sugar Nellie's Gorjuss Girls. The Girls are some of the most fun stamps to color of any stamp I've ever used. They really make everyone look good!!

Crafty Secrets Cherub

Have I told you that my very favorite stamp store, Creative Play Stamps, sells Crafty Secrets? This is from the Cherubs set. I also get all my Spellbinders & Stickles there. It's pretty much one stop shopping!! I used the Hearts of Love Embossabilities and Cotton Candy Stickles on this card. This die has been discontinued, so if you like it, get it now, CPS will not be able to restock it. I have used it to death, and will continue to do so even after it is no longer available.

My blog has been really touch and go this month! We have been super busy, I hope next week is a little slower! I appreciate those of you who stop by very much! Please know that I will be around to see you before long-it's all of you who inspire me!!

I'm confused too.

Anyone who has ever visited my blog more than twice knows that I'm not afraid to post my, ahem, odder creations. I don't know what happened here. Cute stamp, sophisticated paper? I DID follow the sketch from over at GinaK's Stamp TV, so I got that part. You can't win them all, right? The sheep is from GinaK's Down on the Farm set. I colored it with Angel Wings Shimmerz, which I find impossible to photograph, but it's there, I promise!!

Emboss resist

I used GinaK's Elegant Flowers set to revisit the old emboss resist technique. Gina has been reviewing lots of techniques that many stampers know, but have forgotten about, over on Stamp TV. It's fun! Emboss resist is simple. Emboss an image in clear, then sponge color over it. The color of your original cardstock, pink in this case, will show through. I used GinaK's Floral Frenzy kit for all the stamps, paper and ribbon on this card. The inks are Ancient Page Agean Blue, Pine and Pink.

I hope you are enjoying some beautiful spring weather! I have noticed a slowdown of Internet based activites in myself and others. Let's not lose touch, though!! I'll try not to go four days without posting again for awhile!

My favorite flower. And a card.

A little something using some GinaK. stuff. I finally broke down and ordered the Floral Frenzy kit, and I'm glad I did, it's full of fun stuff! I used Best Fishes and Bold Flowers for this one.
The humble dandelion. How many crushed and grubby dandelions have been passed from one small, dirty hand to my own? Who taught my three sons to do this? Were they born knowing how to melt the heart of their mother? Did their father teach them? I know not. I care not. I only hope that I never forget which flowers are really important.

Love can split the...

This is for the Crafty Secrets challenge over on SCS. I'm this week's hostess, we'd love to have you come play with us!! I used three Crafty Secrets products for this one. The Altered Art stamp set, Love and Romance Vintage Cuts, and Birds & Botanicals Images and Journal Notes. The paper is all VERY old PSX, which I got for free with an order from ATRS a year or two ago.

I've been cleaning out my stamp room. I gave a five inch high stack of DP to one of my students last week. (Don't worry, I don't play favorites, she's the only one I know of who scrapbooks!) I have a lot of stuff I bought before I realized that I didn't actually like ALL DP! I have definite opinions about it now, and I found myself using stuff I didn't really like just because it was bought and paid for. I've decided not to play with stuff I don't absolutely LOVE. Life is just too short. I mean what if the last card I ever make is with stuff I don't like? Of course I won't care because I'll be hanging out with my pal, Jesus, but still, why bother? I mean, say I give the card to you. You'll be standing there thinking, "Man, she's hanging out with Jesus, and all I have is this card made with inferior quality DP!" Not a great legacy.

Theology, organization and papercrafting, you can get it all here!

Happy Easter!!!

This card meets two challenges: The High Hopes and Stamp Something challenges! Jeanne was this week's High Hopes Challenge hostess.

I used Basic Gray's Color Me Silly line, which might seem a little too bright for an Easter card. But bear with me, I have three sons! I had my 5yo in mind when I made this. His Highness (5yods) usually does not deign to comment on my paper creations, but he zoned in on this one as soon as he saw it. I have The Little Dictator's approval, what more could I want?

Crafty Secrets Challenge

For this week's Crafty Secrets Challenge, Lori Lynn asked us to use metal on our cards somewhere. On this one, I used some craft wire, which was one of Lori's suggestions. I have lots of it, and I rarely use it. It was popular for a while there, so I bought it. I never really knew what to do with it, though! This is one of CS's small sets, called Believe. I think it's the prettiest angel stamp I've ever seen.

For the Prima flower, I sponged it with Brilliance Mediterranean Blue, which is intense, like Brilliant Blue. Then I sprayed Caspian Sea Shimmer Mist on it, and sprinkled it with Blue Boy Art Glitter. To set the glitter, I gave it a few shots of hairspray. This glitter isn't going anywhere! Ultra hold, baby!!

For the center, I used a pop up glue dot and pressed beads into it. I've been trying to use my beads lately, and these are really gorgeous.

Easter Egg

This project is pretty typical of the way I craft. And the way I craft is with no planning or foresight whatsoever. It is completely me normal for me to spend quite a bit of time on the various elements of an item, only to discover that my proportions are WAY off. Not just a little off, but two or three times as big or small as they need to be to fit together.

That happened twice here. First, my Crafty Secrets Sweet Chips chipboard frame is too big. It is painted, embossed, Glimmer Misted, Stickled, and pearled, not to mention the CS chick sticker and its mat. I happily did all this, and was supah pleased with the results. The fact that it is almost as big as my egg did not occur to me. At all.

Then, I rummaged up these little balls for the feet. I have some of the same balls that are slightly larger. They would have been perfect. This poor egg. It's front heavy because of the huge frame, and its feet are too small. It's fine on the shelf as long as everyone tip toes by. I have a husband and three sons, you can just imagine how much tiptoeing goes on around here. This poor egg keeps hurling itself off the shelf. It's a good thing it's paper mache. Otherwise someone could get really hurt around here, and all because I have no foresight in crafting.

I got the idea for this egg from Teresa McFayden's EZine, Cottage Bella. This is my first EZIne subscription, and I am really enjoying it!!

Supplies:
Miss Muffet Art Glitter
Crafty Secrets Spring Joys sticker sheet & Sweet Chips chipboard frame
Primas
Vintage seam binding
corsage pin
paper mache egg (from second hand store)

The Tale of the Ugly Card. Not this one. Another one.

I haven't posted in a couple of days. The other day, I was trying to make a card, and it was so hideous that it scared me. Seriously. It was ugly in epic proportions. The pinnacle of visual insult. I had to avert my eyes, lest they begin to bleed. Pure evil. With glitter. Eventually, due to my incredible intellect and nimble mind, I came up with the idea of throwing the whole shootin' match into the trash. Brilliant, I know. I'm a very bright woman. I frequently have revolutionary ideas, like throwing what is quite obviously trash, into the trash. Now I'm afraid to take my trash out.

So I avoided my stamp room for a day or two. I tried to give it a wide berth when I walked by, but my house is small, so I would have fallen down the basement stairs if I veered more than a couple of inches off the path, so I just made the sign of the cross when I went by. I'm a Baptist, but I thought it couldn't hurt.

I ventured in there today. I grabbed Anna Wight's Wildflower Silhouettes, figuring that even if the card was ugly, the stamps would still be pretty. And they are. Still pretty. Thank you, Anna.