Some RAK's

Here are some more fabulous RAK's I have recieved from my Stamping friends!! The first card was made for me by Cindy(mothermark). She always makes the most amazing cards as a tribute to the weekly Featured Stamper and this is the card she made for me. It is HUGE and COVERED in silver brads...me likey!! It is also my favorite color, so what's not to like! Check out Cindy's blog..she is super talented and a RIOT!! Thanks Cindy, I love it!!

This second card is from my pal Jackie Pedro(strappystamper). She is so sweet and super talented. She made this card for me as part of the Featured stamper challenge. Thanks Jackie, I love it!!

My last card came to me from Deena(moonrise). She sent this card along with some super cute brads and charms and an adorable stamp!! Thanks so much for the goodies, I love them!!

Monochromatic Sophia

Last night was the Paper Pretties Stampin In Your Jammies party, and I am sad to say, I didn't get to participate as much as normal. My nephew is still here, and he wasn't all that happy that his Uncle Travis was holding him and not me. Needless to say, I had to take over and didn't get to chat to much. I did however, want to say CONGRATS to JENN DIAZ!! She is the new Paper Pretties Cutie Pie!! Be sure to swing by her blog and congratulate her and a job well done!! Here entries were so super cute!! Since we didn't really release a whole lot last night, due to our transition from clear to rubber stamps, Christie decided to have a HUGE sale!! For more info on this, check out the Paper Pretties home page!! Trust me, you don't wanna miss this!! Jared is going back home to his mommy tonight, I think she may miss him a little....and although, I am not much on sleeping less than eight hours, I am gonna miss him too..boohoo. Anyway, now onto my card. So today's color challenge over on SCS was to make a monochromatic card. I don't REALLY know why I chose brown, but I did. My card uses Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa and Very Vanilla. The background DP is from the Close to Cocoa Prints DP and the dress was paper pieced with some Enchante' DSP from SU(both retired). I colored my Sophia with my SU markers after stamping her with Black Stazon on Very Vanilla. I pierced around the edges and cut her and the layers out with my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities. The panel coming out from the circle is my card colors with some cream, chocolate, and cocoa ribbon tied around it. You can't see it all the well, but the bottom edge was punched with my scallop punch. I added some silver brads at the end and around the main image panel to frame it. Around the DP layer, I pierced holes and did some faux stitching.

stamps-Cuddle Me

paper-Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa CS and DSP, Very Vanilla, Enchante DSP

ink- Black and Brown Stazon

tools-scallop punch, Cuttlebug, Nesties, SU markers, ribbon, silver brads

Happy Fall

Phewww!! I have had the most HECTIC weekend!!! I swear it feels like forever since I have got to blog!! My sister is sick, so my nephew Jared is spending his first night here!! How exciting-atleast, that is what I say now...ask me again at 4am!! Since I don't know how long it will be before he demands my undivided attention again, I will make this super short and sweet!! This is my card for today's Featured Stamper challenge over on SCS. The Featured Stamper is Niki E. and she is SUPAH talented!! I chose this card of hers to CASE...and let me tell you, if you are looking for some clean and simple layouts, her gallery is a MUST SEE!! I used the September stamp of the month from Paper Pretties, Falling For You. You have about 3hrs to get signed up to get her before she gets released officially in October. Be sure to sign up for the Paper Pretties Stamp of The Month club and please, TELL THEM I sent you!! Also, tomorrow night(Sept. 1st) is our monthly Stampin In Your Jammies party. We are releasing Howdy Girlfriend and having some fun challenges along with some prizes!! Be sure to stop by, and if you can't stamp, at least stop by and chat for a while!! The fun starts at 7pmCST. Back to my card!! I stamped Sophia on watercolor paper with Black Stazon. I colored her in with my SU markers and cut her and her layers out with my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities. The paper is Chocolate Chip and Really Rust. The DP is some retired from SU and the top Very Vanilla layer is embossed with my paisley folder. I added the sentiment panel at the bottom, which has had the corners punched with the SU ticket corner punch.

Well, that is it for me now!! Hope you all have a great night, pray I get some sleep!!

Yayy Me!!

So, I have a confession to make...and yes, I have been doing that a lot here lately...since at least December I have owned a set of 120 Prismacolor pencils. I bought them from a lady selling the entire set, with only about 10 sharpened, for $60...what a steal!! Anyway, I loved looking at them, I bought mineral spirits and blending stumps from Gina K., and there they sat.....and sat. Sad right?? I NEVER even sharpened a single one of them, much less colored with them. I think I was intimidated...and when I saw today's Ways To Use It challenge, I decided that today was the day and I was gonna color with those pencils no matter what!! The challenge, as you may have guessed, was to use colored pencils. So, yep you guessed it, my image was stamped with Black Stazon with colored with Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits. Now, I can't say that I am completely thrilled with this, and I can DEFINITELY say that I still LOVE my markers, but for my first time coloring anything with them..... it's NOT BAD!!! This card is also for Cindy Haffner's My Favorite Things sketch challenge. She changed the date from Monday to Thursday, so for once I am not late!! The main image and sentiment are from the super cute MFT set Monster Squad. I added some silver brads to the main image and popped it up. The DP(where I got my colors from) is from the K&Co. Halloween Glitter stack. I layered it with Basic Black and added the sentiment and piercing. The scallops were made with my SU scallop punch. The white layer is embossed with my Cuttlebug and swirls embossing folder. I am so proud of my first creation using these pencils, even if I never pull them out again!!LOL!! Plus, I now have 2 Halloween cards made...woohoo!!

That is it for me today, I need to get something stamped and posted for tomorrow. I am going to my sisters house to watch my nephew instead of staying here. He spent the last three days at my Mom's and got a tiny bit home/mommy sick. I figured it would be better for him if I went there instead of dragging him all over!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

stamps-Monster Squad

paper-Lovely Lilac, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, White, K&Co Halloween paper

ink-Black Stazon

tools-ribbons, silver brads, blending stumps, odorless mineral spirits, Cuttlebug, Swirls folder, scallop punch, Prismacolor pencils

Blessings

Hello again!! Here is my card for today's sketch challenge on SCS. I needed a card to go along with a gift I am sending to my friend, so I used the challenge to get it done!! Go me!!! The DP is by Crate Paper and is part of the Seaweed collection. I paired it with Chocolate Chip and Sage Shadow. The main image is from Papertrey Ink and is called Out on a Limb. I did a lot of sponging with Chocolate Chip ink and pierced a whole bunch too...I am obsessed, what can I say. All the hardware is from the SU retired Antique Brass hardware. The ribbon is all from SU too. That is it for me now..kind of short but sweet right??!! I REALLY need to get my google reader caught up, so gotta run. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!
stamps-Out on a Limb by PTI
paper- Sage Shadow, White, Chocolate Chip, Crate Paper DSP
ink-Chocolate Chip
tools- hardware, ribbon, sage marker

Prettie Wednesday- Shaker Card

Hey everyone, so sorry this is late! I usually try to get my Prettie Wednesday cards made early and posted ahead of time so I don't have to worry about them, but I have been super tired all week and just never got around to it. That and the fact that I really have a hard time making shaker cards! I decided that since the only color of beads that I have were blue, they were gonna have to represent water.LOL! So I dug out my Beach Bum image and got to work. Cooper was stamped with Black Stazon on White and colored with my SU markers, Pacific Point ink pad and aqua painter. The frame was cut out of PP CS and Bashful Blue using my Cuttlebug and Nesties. The PP part was also embossed with my swirls embossing folder as well as the white in the back ground. This card is BASED on Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday sketch, but I couldn't get it to work with the two skinny panels, so I ended up with this. Hilariously, this card is on it's way(tomorrow) to my BSF Jodi. What is hysterical about this you ask.......I spent the better part of last night begging her to make one for me and let me post it today!!! ROFLMBO!!! This weeks challenge is the SUPER talented Julie Masse!! Can't wait to see what she has in store for us!! Thank you for stopping by and have a great day!! Don't forget-We are having our monthly Stampin In Your Jammies party at 7pmCST over at the Paper Pretties forum on September 1st. Howdy Girlfriend will be released as well as all the normal festivities-you know-challenges, chatter, prizes, site crashing....LOL!!! Be sure to be there for all the fun!! Also, the 31st is the last day to submit your work for our Cutie Pie contest!!! Just upload as many cards as you want to the Cutie Pie Submissions gallery before 8PMCST on the August 31st to be considered. Not only do you get the title of Cutie Pie, you also get a gift certificate to the store...WOOHOOO!! And finally, don't forget that the 31st is also the last day to sign up for the Stamp of the Month Club to get Falling For You a month before it is released to the public. Be sure to tell them I sent ya!!

Don't forget to check out the other Pretties creations, since they were probably all on time!!LOL!!

Julie Masse

Charmaine Ikach

Jana Weaver

Danielle Lounds

Jodi Collins

Jackie Rakoski

Joni Stringfield

Carolina Buchting

Some News and the Color Challenge

Here is my card for today's color challenge over on SCS. The challenge was to use Kraft, Rose Red and Basic Black. I used my Howdy Girlfriend image that is being released on the first by Paper Pretties. We are having our monthly Stampin In Your Jammies party at 7pmCST over at the Paper Pretties forum. Howdy Girlfriend will be released as well as all the normal festivities-you know-challenges, chatter, prizes, site crashing....LOL!!! Be sure to be there for all the fun!! Also, the 31st is the last day to submit your work for our Cutie Pie contest!!! Just upload as many cards as you want to the Cutie Pie Submissions gallery before 8PMCST on the August 31st to be considered. Not only do you get the title of Cutie Pie, you also get a gift certificate to the store...WOOHOOO!! And finally, don't forget that the 31st is also the last day to sign up for the Stamp of the Month Club to get Falling For You a month before it is released to the public. Be sure to tell them I sent ya!!

Okay, NOW onto my card!! I stamped my Howdy Girlfriend Sophia on White with Black Stazon. She was paper pieced with Rose Red DSP and colored in with markers. I used a ton of silver brads, some more ribbon, paper piercing and it was done. On the bottom, I used one of the already released sentiments that go along with my Howdy image, isn't it CUTE!! This card was made using Danielle's Paper Pretties weekly challenge. This week's challenge is a sketch, and it is fabulous!! Mine isn't EXACTLY like the sketch, but it is pretty darn close!!

Well, lots to do da day, so I am outta here!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

stamps-Howdy Girlfriend and sentiment

paper-Rose Red, Basic Black, Kraft, Whisper White, Rose Red DSP

ink- Black Stazon

tools-silver brads, spiral clips, black gingham, kraft taffeta, SU markers

A Faux Embossed Diva Challenge

Yep you heard me right, this is my SCS technique lovers challenge-to faux emboss, and Julee's Meet the Verve Divas challenge for this week. I don't USUALLY participate in the technique lovers challenge, but this was a FABULOUS technique, so I wanted to try it!! You can find the directions here. I messed it up a tiny bit, but I loved the way it looked, so I decided to keep it. I used white Stazon and Baja Breeze to stamp the ferns from my SU set Petal Prints on a piece of Baja Breeze CS. I layered it with White and Chocolate Chip. The diva challenge for this week was a sketch challenge, so that is what I used for this card. The sentiment is from the Verve Stamps set Uplifting phrases. The rest of this is pretty simple to figure out, but as always, if you have ANY questions, please don't hesitate to ask!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

On a personal note, I am working at the Post Office this week, so my nephew is staying with my Mom. WAHHHHH!!! I miss him already, so Mom, if you are reading this, give him a big hug and kiss for me!!

stamps-Petal Prints by SU and Uplifting Phrases(Verve Visual)

paper-Chocolate Chip, Close To Cocoa, Baja Breeze, White

ink- Brown Stazon, White Stazon, and Baja Breeze

tools-spiral clips, white brads, stamp a ma jig, circle punches, white and chocolate taffeta, cocoa grosgrain, chocolate wide grosgrain, Cuttlebug, textile folder

Kiwi Kisses for Kokirose

So, I know I didn't keep it a secret...but when the new colors came out for SU this catty, I wasn't all that impressed. Truth be told, I was kind of angry that they thought that THESE colors could replace my beloved in-colors from last year. Well, here I sit, eating my words....not only are they not that bad...they are downright wonderful!! Anyway....when I saw who today's featured stamper was, I just had to play. It is Patricia Rose aka Kokirose, and she is just super sweet. She leaves tons of comments and does some beautiful work. I chose this card of hers to CASE. I changed the colors, images, and embellishments. Basically, I kept the layout and changed the rest!! As a personal challenge to myself, I am not allowing myself to purchase any new stamps until I use some of my new ones that remain un-inked. This one, I HAVE used before, but it has been ages. I stamped the branches from Serenity(Verve Stamps) with Black Stazon and Kiwi Kiss on GP white paper. I then added the sentiment and pierced a border around the circle and under the sentiment. I layered it with Kiwi Kiss and Basic Black. A ton of layers, and brads, and ribbon, and it was done!!

stamps-Serenity by Verve Stamps

paper-Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black, White

ink-Black Stazon and Kiwi Kiss

tools-silver brads and clip, black organdy, white taffeta, black gingham, Cuttlebug, circle nestabilities, swiss dots folder, circle punches

My Butterfly SFYTT

Okay, so let me preface this by saying that I LOVE Verve Stamps!! I love all the beautiful sentiments, the gorgeous fonts they are written in, and the fact there is one for just about everything you need to say. My biggest problem is the fact that I don't feel like I am WORTHY of these stamps....do you know what I mean?? They are so elegant and beautiful, and the design team is SO amazing, and Julee Tilman....I mean seriously, can she GET any more talented and SWEET??? So, when I saw Jen's Sketch For You To Try today, I knew that that oval would be perfect for a sentiment, and the placement of the embellishments would work beautifully for the butterflies from my Fluttering By set. Now, I have had this set for a couple of weeks and I have totally tried to use it, but just couldn't get it to work out the way I wanted....truth be told, they all ended up in the garbage. So, today, since I had plenty of time to work with it, I brought out my set and went to work. As I sat at my table, I tried to channel my inner diva(thanks for the inspiration girls) and amazingly, this card practically made itself. I wanted to make a card to send to a friend who just had surgery and loves the color purple. I stamped my butterflies with Black Stazon and colored them in with my SU markers. I then cut them out and added some crystal effects. The DP is from the retired Lovely Lilac DSP and is layered with Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lilac, and Basic Black. The sentiment was stamped with Black Stazon as well and was cut out with my Cuttlebug and Oval Nestabilities. For my third embellishment, I added a spiral clip with some purple polka dotted shear ribbon. I added black brads to the corners and some black organdy ribbon around the DP panel. The white panel was run through my Cuttlebug with the swiss dots folder and layered with my cs colors. In the end, I am SUPER excited about this card....I love it, YAYYY!!! Finally!!!

That is all for me now...off to play some more!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

ETA: the light is totally reflecting off my top butterfly, I swear it matches!!

stamps-Fluttering By

ink-Black Stazon

paper-Lovely Lilac, Almost Amethyst, Basic Black, and Whisper White

tools-Su markers, black brads, silver brads, ribbons, Cuttlebug, swiss dots folder, Nesties