No Cricuts, No Bugs...just paper, inks and stamps

Hi Everyone!

I'm on my way to go grocery shopping..ugh! But I wanted to post my card for yesterday's SCS sketch challenge before I go. I didn't decide to do this until about 9:30 last night and by then DH was working on the computer so I had to go from memory based on what I had seen at about 7:00 in the morning. I also decided that since it was so late. I didn't want to bring out the Cricut or the Cuttlebug or anything complicated. I was very inspired by the sample that was given with the sketch, so I decided to try a bit of brayering. You know brayering is a funny thing for me, it either works great or it looks horrendous. I think this one turned rather nicely if I do say so myself!
I hope you like it as well. I will try to come back a bit later and post details if anyone is interested. Happy New Year! Enjoy your weekend everyone and I'll be back on Monday!

MMSC and Cricut Flowers

Good Morning!

For Christmas this year, my mom bought me a Cricut machine. No, it's not the expression, just the original one; but considering that the only die cut "machine" I have is my Quickutz hand squeeze tool, it is definitely a step up for me! She bought it while she was here visiting for Thanksgiving when we went to Michael's on Black Friday. Now, since I knew what it was, she made me promise that I would wait to use it until after Christmas. So, the box sat unopened, unused under my tree until last Friday afternoon. Aren't I such a good girl!?
When I saw yesterday's MMSC with the flowers on the side, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to use my Cricut. Right now, the only cartridge I have is the George one that comes with it. So, basically, I played around until I had various sizes and colors of the two flowers offered on that particular one and then set about arranging them the way that I wanted to. The colors I used for this card are for yesterday's SCS color challenge of Barely Banana, Dusty Durango, Going Grey and a neutral (white for me) I stamped the Dusty Durango piece with my favorite background stamp "Fine Lace" The ovals were cut with my Petite Oval Nestabilities and my CB. The image is from "Fruitstand" and is actually stamped with Soft Suede ink on white paper. After I stamped the image I used Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distressing ink to cover the image. Then I used blender pens and other inks and pencils to color in the peaches. Added some other minor details and finished off my card.
So, there you have it. I hope you like it! Have a great day!

Last Mojo Monday of 2009

Wow! Hard to believe it's the last week of the year for Mojo Monday. Everything seems to be returning to some sense of normalcy post Christmas, so I definitely wanted to make sure that I got a chance to play along with this week's sketch. It's quite simple really, so I don't think I'll bore you all with the details. I do wish I had a different color flower for the corner as I think this one was a bit too green for the color palette that I chose. I had one that was the right color; but it was too big, so in the end I went with this one. The sentiment is from the SU retired hostess set "Echoes of Kindness." The Rose Red background is stamped with the "Stitched" Background stamp. The circles measure 3 1/4, 3 and 2 1/2 beginning with the Brilliant Blue one.
Anyhow, that's all for me! Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow!

Hi Everyone!

I'm here really quick to share last week's SCS challenge card. I know that a new one is posted for today; and originally I was going to try to do both and post them; but I just didn't get time. To be honest, I'm out of stamping mojo for the day....too much Christmas spirit and doings, which is a good thing!
I couldn't get the card to stay still on the scanner, so that's why it appears a bit crooked at the top and bottom. Lots of layers on this card. I started with Not Quite Navy and then added the Ruby Red layer. The ran the two Going Grey pieces through my CB with an embossing folder before I mounted them onto the Taken with Teal pieces. I added the strip of Not Quite Navy across the middle with the square pewter brads. I used SU's "Circle Circus" for the main image in the middle; and the sentiment is from SU's "Lots of Thought" set. I used 2 layers of dimensionals on the back of the circles piece, which gives it quite a bit of a 3D affect.
Anyhow, that's all for me this week. Enjoy your Christmas Eve celebrations tomorrow and have a Merry Christmas on Friday!

Best Wishes Duo Challenge

Hi Everyone!

For today's card I decided to combine two challenges once again. It's been quite a while since I've been able to do a MMSC challenge. The sketch looked fairly safe and simple, so I decided to give it a whirl. The card also meets the SCS color challenge today to use Sahara Sand, Crushed Curry and Real Red. Never thought that I'd use Curry as much as I have the last couple of days! Anyhow, this is what I came up with. It's fairly simple, although I did have a difficult time trying to decide on the stamp I wanted to use in the middle. In the end, I chose to use the "Best Wishes" stamp from SU's Oval All set. The two squares in the middle are from the Curly Labels 1 Nestabilities set. One cut out in Sahara Sand and then the next layer cut out in Real Red. The pattern on the Sahara Sand piece is from Martha Stewart. The card base is actually Sahara Sand, though it's hard to tell by the picture.
That's it for me, I hope you like it. I'm going to try to post again tomorrow; but not sure if I'm going to be able to. If not, have a Merry Christmas and I'll be back for sure on Monday.

Double Mojo

Hi Everyone!

Well, the snow is still on the ground. With almost 16 inches, I think it's going to be around for a while! Today has been a good day so far. I managed to do not one; but two cards for today and we've already been outside to play in the snow! I decided that since I wasn't able to do last week's challenges that I would try to double up on them a bit this week. For example, I did last week's Mojo Monday as well as today's.
For the first card, (which was last week's sketch) I used Ballet Blue, Pumpkin, Olive and Curry as my color palette. I used the Medallion stamp from SU for the circular image, which I'm sure that many of you recognize. I stamped it three times in Olive ink, Curry ink and Pumpkin ink and then I used various sizes of my Petite Scallop Circle Nestabilities to cut them out. I tried to line up the image as best I could. It was a bit crooked; but I think it came out pretty well in the end. I used two CB embossing folders for the Pumpkin background and also for the Ballet Blue piece across the center. I added the olive ribbon, which honestly, I'm not sure that I really like. I always feel like the ribbon is a shade brighter than the olive ink that I use. Anyone else get that same feeling when using this ribbon from SU?
Ok, so now on to the second card, which is for today's Mojo Challenge. For this card, I chose Razzleberry, Curry, Orchid Opulence, and Pale Plum. Not a lot of explanation needed for this card, I don't think. I used the Stitched Background stamp on the plum piece in the background and the Curry piece against the center. The yellow ribbon is actually a piece of the Curry ribbon turned over to hide the polka dots. It's a bit bright in the picture; but actually looks very nice IRL!
I decided to keep this card fairly simple. I hope you like them both. Have a great day and I'll be back again tomorrow.

Let it Snow!!

Hi Everyone!

Once again, too much time has passed since my last creative post. It has been a crazy, busy week and now we are buried in a massive snow storm here in New England. The kids, not to mention the dog have had the best time outside playing in it. As I've said I have been very busy with holiday baking and some other things. I've had a bit of time to do a bit of stamping, so I'm sharing two things with you. I hope you like them. I promise to get back into a regular blogging routine after the holidays. For now, it's just going to be a bit random I'm afraid. These are two cards that I did using the OCL Coastal Wishes set again. I had a lot of fun experimenting with different ways and mediums to color them.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

SCS challenges

Good Morning!

Just a quick post this morning. I'm heading out the door to take Jonathan to pre-school. This is a quick card that I did yesterday for Wednesday's SCS sketch challenge. I also combined it with an SCS color challenge. I think it was this week's but I don't remember. I used Barely Banana as my base and stamped it with the Crosshatch background stamp in Banana ink. Next I added a layer of Artichoke Print Patterns paper also from SU. The panel on the left is Going Grey and I ran a piece of Razzleberry ribbon down the center. The pattern paper behind the sentiment is the backside of the Artichoke paper. The focal image is from Coastal Wishes by Our Craft Lounge. I stamped it with Color Box Charcoal chalk ink and then used a variety of Copics, blender pens, aqua painters, inks and water color crayons to color the image in. I added some color around the edges by running them along a Color Box Dune Chalk ink pad. I mounted the image on to a piece of Barely Banana and then onto a piece of Razzlin Razzleberry.
So, off I go! I hope to visit some of you later. Until then, have a great day!

Here Again!

Hi Everyone!

Wow, it's been quite a while since I've posted, at least it seems like it to me! I'm sorry I've been so sporadic in sharing things with you. Such a busy time with the holidays. I did finally get done with my Christmas cards. Not everyone on my list will be getting a handmade card; but that's just the way it goes. I am happy to be doing something else now. The card I have today is for this week's Mojo Monday. I also combined it with a previous SCS color challenge that I had not done using Old Olive, Bermuda Bay and Pretty in Pink.
I started with a standard size Old Olive card and then added a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Pretty in Pink. Next I added the Bermuda Bay with the strip of pattern paper at the bottom. The 2 Bermuda Bay circles in the background are 2 3/4. I cut 2 more pink circles each measuring 2 1/2. Then I ran those circles through the cuttlebug and embossed them.
The main image is from SU's hostess set "Wings of Friendship." I inked the image with Bermuda Bay ink and then used a Qtip to remove some of the ink and then I went back over those areas with an Old Olive marker and a Pretty in Pink marker. I stamped the image on Pretty in Pink paper and then used foam adhesive to attach it to the card.
The sentiment in the corner is from SU's chitchat rubons. I had a hard time getting it to stay in place, so I had to doctor it a bit with a Chocolate Chip marker.
I already have something done to share with you tomorrow, so I'll definitely be back tomorrow! Next week...who knows! I hope you have a great day and thanks for visiting with me!

New Nesties and More Inspiration

Hi Everyone!

I'm back again with another Christmas Card. I promise I'm almost done with them. So far I've made approximately 60 of them and believe me, I think I've had enough. I'm so far behind on my birthday cards and other cards that I need to do. I decided to use another one of the cards from Kristina Werner's Holiday Card Series for inspiration. I really liked this card; but I did not have any ornaments to cut out to use, so I adjusted that part of it. I recently got a new set of Nestabilities: Label One and thought they would be perfect. Once again I also used paper from my American Crafts "Merrymint" collection. I know I've used it a lot lately; but it's what I have, so why not, right? The Santa Clause image is from Inkadinkado. I stamped it with Ruby Red ink and then used Copic Markers to color his face and then my blender pens and ink pad for his hat. I wanted to add a bit of shadowing in his beard, so I used a Cool Grey Copic to go over various parts of it, which is hard to see in the picture; but does add some interest in real life. The sentiment is from the same Inkadinkado set and I stamped it with Chestnut Roan chalk ink. The ribbon is from Lil Davis Designs. I have to say I was rather pleased with the way this one turned out; and I hope you like it as well.

Focus on Paper

Hello Everyone!

I'm here bright and early to post this morning, since I didn't get a chance to share anything yesterday. As you may realize by now, I am definitely focused on Christmas cards. I'm also not doing any challenges at the moment and probably won't again until after I get all my Christmas cards done. I'm sure that many of you are aware and have seen the holiday card series that Kristina Werner has been doing on her blog. Well, I decided to use a few of her cards from that series as inspiration for some of my own. The card I shared yesterday was one example; and here is another one. I was inspired by the fact that Kristina used pattern paper on this card as her focal image rather than stamping. I pulled out my Merrymint collection of American Crafts paper and decided to used the fun neighborhood scenic piece. I stamped the letters from SU's Jumbo Outline Alphabet set on Burgundy paper and then glued them to a small piece of Baja Breeze. I hand wrote "to the world", which isn't as pretty as Kristina's; but then again I don't know anyone who writes as pretty as she does. Finally I added two simple buttons and the card was done.
Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Warm Winter Wishes

Hi Everyone!

I'm posting early this morning before the day runs away from me! So many Christmas cards to make, and so little time!!! This is one I did yesterday using my new Our Craft Lounge stamp set called "Tweet Winter Wishes" I think it's just adorable and I can't wait to play some more with it.
Unfortunately, I used some pretty light colors so it didn't scan as well as I would have liked; but I hope you can still get the gist of it. I started with a standard size card in Bashful Blue and then added a layer of pattern paper from Heidi Grace designs. Next is a piece of Pink Pirouette with a piece of Holiday Ribbon from Martha Stewart wrapped around the bottom. I stamped the snowman on the main image with color box queue chalk inks and then used my blender pens and other inks to color them in.
So super simple and really quite cute IRL. Have a great day!