Grill Master

Hello everyone...Happy Friday!!!!! Last weekend we went to our son Brian's in Cedar Park to celebrate his birthday. Brian was born on my birthday so I got the best present of all!!! He is all grown up now with a wife and three children. His oldest, CJ (Catherine Jade) will graduate from high school in a couple of weeks  so, needless to say, they are a busy little family!!! I will never forget his sweet little face after delivery....what a wonderful memory!!! Anyway...enough of the mushy momma stuff....let me tell you about his birthday card.

I used the Taylored Expressions Bobby set...the images were colored with Copics and the hat and sentiment were popped up on foam dots. Sewing was done on the Little Yellow Bicycle dp and the twine finishes it off.  Brian is a real grill master so he really liked this card and the green stuff we put in the inside...LOL!!!

Thanks for stopping by...have a super wonderful day!!!

Color Throwdown #242

Hello everyone.... It's Wednesday again and time for another Color Throwdown Challenge!! Lori is our hostess this week and she has selected a bold and bright color palette us to play with!! Don't these colors and the inspiration photo just scream summer!!!

Our son, Steve, is having a birthday this weekend and he loves to grill so I pulled out my Inky Antics BBQ Time set and some Basic Grey Cupcake papers to make his card. All the images were colored with Copics, cutout, and popped up on foam dots. The sentiments are from the same set and I used the Mojo Monday #293 for the sketch

Be sure to add CTD242 to the keywords when you upload your card to an online gallery so we can find your work!!

Do you want to see some beautiful inspiration?? Here are the links to the Color Throwdown Designers..... check out what they created this week! 

 

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations

Joan Ervin - Stamping With a Passion - that's me! 

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy
Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor  
Denise Marzec - The Paper Landscaper
Lynn Put - The Queens Scene

Lori Tecler - Inking a Loud

Audrey Hiltke - Audrey's Paper Garden Inspirations - May's Guest Designer!!

 

Thanks for visiting....have a great day and I hope you can find some time to come stamp with us at the Color Throwdown Challenge!!!!

 

Make It Move to the Moxie Fab World!!!

Hello everyone!!! Hope you are all having a great day!!!! I had a chance to spend most of my day in the craft room...that's because I decided not to clean house or wash clothes. A girl has to do what a girl has to do...right??? Anyway...I have several big boys and a couple of little boys (sons and grandsons) having birthdays  in the next few months so I thought I better get busy with the masculine cards.

My card today features the super cute Half Pint Heroes by Waltzingmouse Stamps. I found my inspiration for the layout from the Tuesday Trigger on the Moxie Fab World Blog...check it out...:

...and the Waltzingmouse blog  - Make it Move Challenge!! I used papers from Basic Grey's Cupcake collection because the colors matched the inspiration picture and the background red matting was cut in wedges also like the inspiration picture. The space ship was colored with Copics, cutout, and popped up on foam dots. The little face was added with a piece of wire so it will move back and forth and the sentiment from the same set was cut up, matted with Not Quite Navy, and adhered to the card. The fiber ribbon finishes it off.

Thanks for stopping by...now I had better get busy and clean this dirty house...naturally, the Good Fairy took the day off!!!!

TLC429 Bokeh Effect

Hello everyone...it's my turn to host the Technique Lover's Challenge on Splitcoast and I have a stampin kinda challenge this week!!! We are going to do the Bokeh Effect!!!

Bokeh is actually a photography technique that is a blur or an out of focus area of the image. We can mimic this effect by doing something pretty simple for stampers...stamping off. Yup...a little sponging and stamping off and you have created a beautiful background or main image!!!

Here are the deets:

1. Select a small solid stamp around 1/2 inch in size such as a flower, heart, circle, star, etc. and 2-4 different light colored inks
2. Sponge  an area on your card stock...you can use any color card stock as long as you can see the ink you will use to stamp the small image.
3. Start with one color, ink up you stamp, and stamp 3-4 times over the sponged area without reinking the stamp. Stamp off 2-3 times with each color...be sure you space out the colors and darks and lights.

Here is a link to the Splitcoast  Bokeh Gallery...you will find several cards using this technique.

For my card, I first sponged white craft ink on the Crumb Cake card base. Then I used the smallest flower stamp from Taylored Expressions Garden Party Blooms set to stamp the Bokeh background with white craft, Pool Party, and Sahara Sand inks.The larger flowers from Taylored Expressions Happily Ever After set were stamped with Versamark, embossed with white embossing powder, cut out, and popped up with foam tape. The leaves from the same set were stamped with Pool Party, cut out, and adhered with glue dots, and the sentiment, also from the same set was stamped on vellum with Memento Rich Cocoa and the edges were sewn on...the pearls finished it off. 

Thanks for stopping by....have a great day and be sure to join us for the Technique Lover's Challenge on Splitcoast...I would love to see what you come up with!!!!

Taylored Expressions May Release Day - Birch Tree Cutting Plate

Hello everyone...today is Taylored Expressions May Release Day.....how exciting!!! Now you can buy all the fabulous stamps and dies we have been previewing all week!!!!!

Today I am going to share a couple of projects I made with the Birch Tree Cutting Plate and the
 Birch Tree Accessories....

The background was brayered on a piece of white card stock using Barn Red and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks. The sun was punched from a piece of Summer Sun card stock and adhered to the background. The trees were cut from Chocolate Chip card stock using the Birch Tree Cutting Plate ....a white craft ink pad was used to wiped over the top and then the tree die cut was adhered to the brayered background. Twine was wrapped around the bottom and then it was adhered to a Crumb Cake card base with foam tape.  The bird and sign dies from the Birch Tree Accessories were used to cut the bird from Real Red card stock and the sign from Crumb Cake. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions A Year of Sweet Sentiments. 

My second project started with a pickle jar......

The jar was covered with the orange tissue paper using spray adhesive and then the Birch Tree Cutting Plate was used to cutout three die cuts from Chocolate Chip card stock. The die cuts were adhered over the tissue paper....three of them fit perfectly around the jar!! Then a lot of *stuff* was added to include canvas strip, ribbon flower, twine, ribbon , and brown bloomers were added to the top to fill in the gap between the jar and die cuts.

Tadaa!!! Now I have a fancy tea light that I can use a battery operated light with or I can even use a candle!!!




Are you ready for a lot of inspiration using more of the awesome dies and stamps from the Taylored Expressions May Release?? Check out what the Baker's Dozen has created!!!

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin   Guest Designer  that's me!

Kerri Mchaud

Lynnette Kauffman

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Thanks for stopping by today....I hope you have a wonderful day!!!!

Taylored Expressions May Sneak Peek: Day 2 - Wedded Bliss

 Hello everyone and welcome to Day 2 of  Taylored Expressions May Sneak Peeks!! Today the theme is Wedded Bliss and I have a couple of wedding cards to show you!!

The first card was made with the Mr. & Mrs. Cutting Plate. I used the plate on four pieces of card stock; black, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, and Certainly Celery. Using the black die cut as the base, I cut the leaves out of the Certainly Celery die cut and adhered them to the black base die cut. Then I cut the small flowers out of the Pool Party die cut and the large flowers out of the Bermuda Bay die cut and adhered them all to the black base. Pearls and gems were added to all the flower centers and then it was adhered to the white card base. 

My second card features stamps from the Happily After set. The flower was stamped on a piece of designer paper several times. I cut three layers of the flower for the middle flower and two layers for the two side flowers. Foam dots were used to adhere the layers. The leaves were stamped on Always Artichoke with Always Artichoke ink, cut out and adhered with glue dots. The sentiment is from the same set and the lace heart was in my stash. The paper is from Webster's Pages and the pearls, sewing and distressing finish it off.

I can't wait to see all the wedding inspiration from the Baker's Dozen Design team...how about you??

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin  Guest Designer  that's me!!

Kerri Mchaud

Lynnette Kauffman

Nancy McKinney

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Thanks for stopping by...have a great day and remember,  tomorrow is the May release for all the awesome Taylored Expressions stamps and cutting plates and The Facebook Preview Party is tonight at 6pm PST.!!!!  

 

Color Throwdown #241

Hello everyone...it's my turn to host the challenge this week and I have some beautiful colors for you to create with!! Don't you just love the wreath....I wish it was hanging on my door!!!!!

My card features stamps from Taylored Expressions Birds of a Feather set. The branch was stamped with Crumb Cake and Mellow Moss for the leaves. The flowers were punched with an old Stampin Up! punch. The bird cages were embossed with white ep.....the birds were stamped on white card stock using Regal Rose and Elegant Eggplant, cutout, and popped up on foam dots. The sentiment is from the same set and the pearls and twine finish it off. .

If you don't have the exact colors,  just use what you have as long as they are close to the challenge colors.
Once you have finished your project, add a direct link to your creation using the Inlinkz tool at the bottom of the post. Don't forget to add CTD241 to your key words when you upload to an online gallery. You can find all the challenge rules in the right side bar of the Color Throwdown Blog.

Thanks for playing along with us ....I can't wait to see what you create with this weeks colors!!

Now, how about a little inspiration from the Design Team!!!

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations

Joan Ervin - Stamping With a Passion - that's me! 

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy
Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor  
Denise Marzec - The Paper Landscaper
Lynn Put - The Queens Scene

Lori Tecler - Inking a Loud

Audrey Hiltke - Audrey's Paper Garden Inspirations - May's Guest Designer!!

Thanks for stopping by....have a great day and Happy Stamping!!

Taylored Expressions May Sneak Peek - Day 1 - Graphic Greetings Dad

Hello everyone and welcome!!! Today is the day we have all been waiting for.....it's Day 1 of Taylored Expressions May Sneak Peeks....Whoohoo!!!!! The theme today is *For Him* and I am really excited to show you the card I made with the awesome Graphic Greetings Dad stamp....one of the new May release stamps!!! I have a husband, four sons, a son in law, and my Dad to make cards for not to mention several grandsons so as you can imagine I am always on the lookout for guy stamps and masculine card ideas!!! I was thrilled to work with this awesome stamp....it's just perfect for Father's Day and birthdays!!! Since my new favorite technique is chalkboard....I was doubly thrilled because this stamp works beautifully with the chalkboard technique!!!!!!!

The Graphic Greetings Dad stamp was stamped with Versamark onto black card stock and embossed with white embossing powder. I ran my embossing buddy over the card stock prior to stamping so the ep wouldn't stick where it wasn't supposed to. After embossing, white craft ink was sponged on to give it the dirty chalkboard look.  I made my chevrons using Julie Hoffman's tutorial found here. The paper is from Basic Grey's Max and Whiskers and the twine, buttons, sewing, and distressing finish it off.

Now I have my Dad's Father's Day card finished...yeaaaaa!!! Tomorrow will be Day 2 of the Sneak Peeks and then the May Release will be Thursday morning, May 9th at 8am PST!!!

Now, are you ready to see more sneak peeks from the awesome Baker's Dozen Design Team?? Check it out!!!

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin - Guest Designer - you are here!!

Kerri Mchaud

Lynnette Kauffman

Nancy McKinney

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Thanks for stopping by....have a wonderful day!!!!!

Exciting News!!!

Hello everyone!!! I have some really exciting news to tell you...I have been asked to be the May/June Guest Designer for Taylored Expressions...how cool is that!!! I have been a fan of Taylored Expressions Stamps ever since Taylor open her store several years ago and now I get to play with her awesome stamps and super fabulous design team...I am thrilled to say the least!!! The May sneak peeks start tomorrow so be sure to stop by to see some wonderful new stamps and lots of inspiration and be sure to check out the Taylored Expressions Blog, too!!!

I used one of my favorite Taylored Expressions stamp sets called A Day in Paradise to create my card today. The ocean area was masked off and sponged with Pool Party and then the Crumb Cake sand was torn, distressed, and wiped down with a white craft ink pad. The chairs were stamped on white card stock, colored with Copics, cutout, and popped up with foam dots. The umbrella was stamped on a scrap piece of designer paper, shaded with a Copic, cutout, and popped up with foam dots. The sentiment is from the same set and the twine and yellow button which is supposed to represent the sun finish it off.

Thanks so much for stopping by today....I hope your day is super special!!!! Remember to stop back tomorrow for Day 1 of the Taylored Expressions May sneak peeks!!!

Color Throwdown #240

Hello everyone.... It's Wednesday again and time for another Color Throwdown Challenge!! 
The fabulous Broni is our hostess this week and she has picked a wonderful combo of colors to play with!!!

 My card features the adorable owl stamp and sentiment from Gina K. Designs called Birthday Hoot. It was paper pieced with scrap papers from My Minds Eye's Stella Rose, Making Memories Just Chillin, Teresa Collins Far and Away,  Creating Keepsake's Pooh Balloons, and the hat was colored with Copics. The sentiment was divided and popped up on foam dots and the twine finishes it off. 

Be sure to add CTD240 to the keywords when you upload your card to an online gallery so we can find your work!!

Do you want to see some beautiful inspiration?? Here are the links to the Color Throwdown Designers..... check out what they created this week! 

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations

Joan Ervin - Stamping With a Passion - that's me! 

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy
Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor  
Denise Marzec - The Paper Landscaper
Lynn Put - The Queens Scene

Lori Tecler - Inking a Loud

Audrey Hiltke - Audrey's Paper Garden Inspirations - May's Guest Designer!!

Thanks for stopping by....have a great day and Happy Stamping!!

TLC427 - Make your Own Chevrons!!

Hello everyone!!! It's my turn to host Splitcoast's Technique Lover's Challenge this week and I have such a wonderful challenge for you!!!! We are going to make our own chevrons strips!!!! Yup...I just saved you several dollars because you don't have to buy a die. All you need is a score board or paper cutter with a groove so you can score your cardstock. Here is the link to Julie Hoffman's awesome tutorial on Splitcoast. 

Here are the deets:

1. Cut card stock strips  1 inch wide and as long as you need to cover your card base
2. Score the strip lengthwise at 1/2 inch
3. Now score along the strip every 1/2 inch along the width of the strip
4. Cut the paper from the bottom corner to the middle score line, removing triangle shapes along the length of the paper.

5. Now turn the paper and cut the other side the same

6. The tutorial has pictures that will make it easier to figure out the cut lines

My card features a stamp from Gina K. Designs called Face to the Sun. It was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and the white spaces were colored with copics. For the chevrons I used Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, and Wisteria Wonder. The button and twine finish it off.

Now it's your turn....come on over to Splitcoast and join in the TLC challenge....I'd love to see what you make!!!

Birthday Wishes

 

Hello everyone!!! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful Saturday morning!!! I had such a wonderful day yesterday...I got to play in the craft room for a couple of hours!!! That made up for the fact that I went to the dentist on Thursday and  found out I cracked a tooth....the root canal in next Tuesday.  What a bummer considering my knee replacement was a little over 2 weeks ago....when it rains it sure does pour!!! The good thing is that I will have to live on chocolate shakes for a couple of days...oh darn...LOL!!!! Anyway....on to my card....

I had the cardstock, Die-namics die cut trim, and punched out hearts sitting on my counter so I played a liittle with the design and tadaaa....this is what I came up with. The sentiment is an old Stampin Up! stamp...it must be over 10 years old and the pearl flourish, button, and twine finish it off. I have several birthdays in May so this will be sent off soon!!

Thanks for stopping by....I will be sitting down to the computer later on today to visit all my blogging friends. It has been a while because it's still painful to sit with my knee bent.....thanks to everyone for all the prayers, hugs, and well wishes!!!!!

Color Throwdown #239

Hello everyone.... It's Wednesday again and time for another Color Throwdown Challenge!! 
The wonderful Barbara is our hostess the week and she has picked some soft and pretty colors for us to play with!!!  I actually felt good enough to play in the craft room on Sunday...I'm slowly but surly getting back to normal!!! I have graduated to a cane but I still need the pain meds and I have to ice my knee several times a day. The physical therapist will continue to come to my home through next week so hopefully, she can work a little magic in the next couple of weeks!!! Anyway.....let me tell you about my card. 

Papers from Echo Park's Victorian Garden and Boy Crazy by My Mind's Eye were used and sewing was done around the edges.  The sketch is last week's Mojo Monday sketch and the sentiment is from Verve's Heart to Heart set. The pearls, May Art's wood birdcage, the Stampin Up! bird die, Twine, and the Martha Stewart fern punched leaves finish it off.

Be sure to add CTD239 to the keywords when you upload your card to an online gallery so we can find your work!! 

 

Do you want to see some beautiful inspiration?? Here are the links to the Color Throwdown Designers..... check out what they created this week! 

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations

Joan Ervin - Stamping With a Passion - that's me! 

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy
Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor  
Denise Marzec - The Paper Landscaper
Lynn Put - The Queens Scene

Lori Tecler - Inking a Loud

Frances Byrne - Stamp Owl's Studio - April's Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by...have a great day!!!

Color Throwdown Challenge #238

Hello everyone!!  It's Wednesday again and time for another Color Throwdown Challenge!! 
 The wonderfully talented Wanda is our hostess this week and what fabulous colors....I love blue and yellow together!!!

My card features the Hollyhock stamp from Flourishes...it was colored with Copics and tiny yellow pearls were added to the flower centers. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink, the blue gingham paper is from Hobby Lobby, and the seam binding is the finishing touch.

Be sure to add CTD238 to the keywords when you upload your card to an online gallery so we can find your work!! 

 

Do you want to see some beautiful inspiration?? Here are the links to the Color Throwdown Designers..... check out what they created this week! 

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations

Joan Ervin - Stamping With a Passion - that's me! 

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy
Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor  
Denise Marzec - The Paper Landscaper
Lynn Put - The Queens Scene

Lori Tecler - Inking a Loud

Frances Byrne - Stamp Owl's Studio - April's Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by...have a great day!!!

Just a Note....

Hello everyone....I bet you have noticed that I haven't been around for a week or so. I thought that I should let you know that I had a knee replacement on April 8th. Due to years of ballet dancing and abuse to my right knee, I'm afraid it finally gave out. I am on the mend now...I'm up walking with a walker and boy do I feel like a little old lady!! Now, all I need is the blue hair...LOL!!! I can only sit at the computer for a few minutes at a time so I won't be able to visit any of you for a few more days. It's a good thing that I scheduled a couple of my Color Throwdown challenges because it will be another week or so before I can stand in the craft room to create. Take care and I will be seeing you soon!!!!

Color Throwdown Challenge #237

Hello everyone!!  It's Wednesday again and time for another Color Throwdown Challenge!! The fabulous and uber talented Tammy is our hostess this week and she has picked such a fun color combo. I didn't have these gorgeous papers so I colored an image and tried to use Copic colors that were as close to her colors as possible.   

I used a Flourishes stamp from their Spring Bouquets set. It was stamped on the white card stock with Memento Tuxedo Black which is close to Night of Navy...LOL!!! Don't tell Tammy!!! This is pretty CAS with just the lace and seam binding but I really wanted the beauty of the colors to take center stage!!

Be sure to add CTD237 to the keywords when you upload your card to an online gallery so we can find your work!! 

 

Do you want to see some beautiful inspiration?? Here are the links to the Color Throwdown Designers..... check out what they created this week! 

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations

Joan Ervin - Stamping With a Passion - that's me! 

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy
Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor  
Denise Marzec - The Paper Landscaper
Lynn Put - The Queens Scene

Lori Tecler - Inking a Loud

Frances Byrne - Stamp Owl's Studio - April's Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by...have a great day!!!

 

Color Throwdown #236

Hello everyone!!  It's Wednesday again and time for another Color Throwdown Challenge!! Lynn is our hostess this week and she picked this beautiful inspiration photo and colors...isn't it gorgeous!!! Since I didn't have a pansy image to color, I decided to dig out my last sheet of Orchid Opulence to make a flower. 

  

Die-namics dies were used for the flower and the leaves....the layers were embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder and the twine was colored using a Copic marker. The paper was retired Stampin Up! and the scallop was made with a Rick Rack Die-namics. To finish it off, I used a sentiment stamp from Waltzingmouse Stamps Light of the World stamp set.

Be sure to add CTD236 to the keywords when you upload your card to an online gallery so we can find your work!! 

 

Do you want to see some beautiful inspiration?? Here are the links to the Color Throwdown Designers..... check out what they created this week! 

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations

Joan Ervin - Stamping With a Passion - that's me! 

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy
Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor  
Denise Marzec - The Paper Landscaper
Lynn Put - The Queens Scene

Lori Tecler - Inking a Loud

Frances Byrne - Stamp Owl's Studio - April's Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by...have a great day!!!