Love You Much

Happy New Year! What better way to celebrate New Year's than with a Valentine's card?! Seems crazy, but today I was in Michael's, and they already have out crafts and decorations for Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day! I thought I better get started, so I pulled out the brand new SU! set, "Love You Much" with matching punch and dp (Candy Lane).  I made this first card for the SC209.  I stitched around the outside of the card, as well as on one side of the red panel.  I stamped my main image on Very Vanilla cardstock, and colored in with reinkers and an aquapainter.  I added some glitter to the flower. I then used the coordinating punch to punch out the hearts along the bottom.  I picked up the ribbon today, it is from American Crafts, and was actually on sale with the Valentine's stuff!

This next card is a combination of favorite things I saw in the gallery on Splitcoast for this stamp set.  I used my top note die to die cut the bracket shape.  I then used the punch to punch the hearts out in the corner, and added some of the dp behind the back of the punched area.  I stamped the heart on Pink Pirouette cardstock, and used my reinkers and aquapainter to add color to some of the flowers. I also added some glitter to the flower centers.  I added the rhinestone brad and the filigree brad on top for some extra shine!  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set, and was stamped on vellum.

Talk to you next year!

Glitter is a Girl's Best Friend!

I was able to get back to stamping today, after a few days full of family time.  I am still using my Bittyblooms, and I threw in a chichi that I have never used for my cards today.  This first card features the Mojo Monday sketch from a few weeks ago (#65). I used the sunflower bittybloom, along with some old SU! paper, called "Sarah".  I liked how the colors went with the flower.  I zig zag stitched around the outside of the card.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set.  The bittybloom was colored with reinkers and an aquapainter, and glitter was added to the flower in her hair.

This card is for this week's Mojo Monday sketch (#67), and features Daisy Bittybloom.  I used the same SU! paper for this card, and Hero Arts sentiment set. I added glitter on the flower of Bittyblooms skirt.

This last card was made for the BSC61 on Splitcoast.  It features Baby Buttercup, who is nestled in a flower.  I used dp by BasicGrey called Sugared, and  a sentiment from a SU! set.  Of course I glittered part of her flower!

Thanks for stopping by!

New Toys!

Hi! I spent today playing with some new Christmas toys! As I mentioned, yesterday, I got a Janome Mini Sewing Machine, which has been a blast to experiment with! My brother also gave me some Stamping Bella Bittyblooms, which are just adorable!

Here are the cards I made today:  First up in Bluebell Bittybloom.  I used last week's sketch on I{Heart}tostamp SFYTT.  She was watercolored with reinkers and an aquapainter, and her dress was paper pieced with a piece of the patterned paper from this collection (Jersey Shore, so appropriate!).  I've been having a blast using my fine point glue pen and loose glitter to glitterify my images, like the polka dots and outline of the flower on this stamp.  I sewed a zig-zag stitch around the outside of the card, as well as on the panel towards the left of the card.  The flowers were made with an assortment of SU! punches.  

Next up is Poppy Bittybloom, who was also colored, paper pieced and bejeweled with glitter!  I used SU! dp called "Sweet Always" and stitched similarly to the card above.

Last, but not least, is Rosy, who was again, colored and bejeweled with glitter (I skipped the paper piecing this time).  I followed the sketch on Taylored Expressions (TECC48) for this card.  Designer paper is by BasicGrey, called "Sugared".  The background So Saffron piece was cuttlebuged with an embossing folder, and the strip of dp was stitched on.  I cut my main image out and layered her on top of some nesties (the top one was stitched on my machine).  I used a combo of SU! flower punches and Heidi Swapp ghost flowers for my flower image, and a SU! sentiment (Warm Words).

If you can't tell, I'm loving my Bittyblooms.  Thanks, Robby!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Our morning festivities are over, but here in our house we're gearing up for round 2 this afternoon when the rest of the family comes over! My biggest surprise this morning was a Janome Mini Sewing Machine! I had mentioned it to my Mom months ago, after seeing it used on many blogs, and she bought it for me. It was the last gift I opened and I sure was shocked!  I can't wait to try it out.

I thought I'd share the Christmas card my Mom and I made this year to send out to family and friends.  We try to keep it pretty simple so that we can make a bunch and be done quickly with them.  We used this adorable snowman from the SU! set "Merry and Bright".  We also cut out the snowflake from a Sizzix die, then added iridescent ice ep to give it some sparkle. The background was embossed with a Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder.  That's about all, have a great rest of your Christmas!

Celebrate the Butterfly!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!  I had some free time in between wrapping last minute presents and getting ready for tonight's festivities to participate in the SC208 on Splitcoast.  At first I wasn't sure of the sketch, and how it would fit the stamp I wanted to use, but I'm pretty happy with the results!  I used "Wendy Papillon" who is a Stamping Bella chichi fairy.  I colored her with my Aquapainter and reinkers, and paper pieced her dress with some dp called "Sweet Always".  She is matted on a nestie rectangle. The brown rectangle behind her is the same size as the pink one my main image is matted on.  I used some SU! felt flowers, and brads which match this year's in-colors as well as a rhinestone to make my flower.  The sentiment is from a retired hostess set called "So Many Sayings," which is accented with another felt flower and rhinestone.  I added "Cotton Candy" stickles to Wendy's wings and polka dots on her apron.  

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Snow Hugs

Hi!  How cute is this stamp?! I've had it for almost a year now, and have never used it.  I bought it out of season and just was not really into snow at that point, but now I am totally into snow (which is a good thing since there is still about 5 inches on the ground)!  This is a stamp from Stamping Bella called "Group Hug".  I made this card following the Mojo Monday #66 sketch.  I colored the snowmen in with SU! markers, and covered their bodies with a Sakura gelly roll glitter pen.  The dp is from My Mind's Eye "Signature Christmas" collection.  The sentiment is from a MFT set and seemed fitting with this snowmen huddle.  The ribbon was a lucky find after I had picked my colors, because they exactly matched! It was from American Crafts, and sadly, this was the last of it.  I think that's all for now. Have a great evening!

Some Bella Sketches

Here is what we should all be doing right now, relaxing with a manicure!  I made this card to follow BSC60 on Splitcoast this evening.  The stamp is a chichi fairy from Stamping Bella, called Georgina Glamourpuss.  I colored her in with ink and an aquapainter, and paper pieced her dress with the Bella Rose dp.  The round pink things (not sure what they are officially called) were free with my Bella order from the Bellaversery sale (that total order was actually a gift from my brother for Christmas to me, but I opened it a wee bit early to pull these out!).

This next card follows BSC57 from a few weeks ago. I used daisybella, who is just adorable! I colored her with ink and an aquapainter also.  The accents in the middle of the small scallops are a larger eyelet, with a rhinestone brad in the middle of it.  This paper is from a Prima pack, called The Breathe Collection.

I think that's all for now, only a 1/2 day to go before break!

A Bella Christmas!

Hello! We had a snow storm hit our area this weekend, forcing me to cancel my exciting plans. Some friends from college and I were going to spend the weekend celebrating Christmas in Hershey Park, but the snow forced us to cancel.  This left me with some free time this weekend! I decided to make some more Christmas cards.

My first card was highly inspired by a card I saw on Shannan's blog, using Eloise Greengrass as a Christmas fairy.  I imagined that she was holding a poinsettia flower.  I colored the chichi in with my Aquapainter and reinkers (Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, Pink Pirouette, and Blush Blossom for skin).  I added Cotton Candy and Fruit Punch Stickles on parts of her dress and flower.  The pink background is embossed with a Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder.  The sentiment is from a SU! set, and is layered on 2 ovals.

For my next card, I followed BSC59 on the Bella message boards on Splitcoast.  I used glideabella, and she was also colored in with my Aquapainter and reinkers (same colors).  I used some Soft Sky designer prints paper, paired with an embossed piece of Pink Pirouette.  I punched out some small flowers and layered a Martha Stewart punched snowflake on top.

Have a great week! I know I will, since it's only a day and a half long! :)

A Very Merry Christmas!

Here is another card I made yesterday with a new Close to my Heart stamp set called "Festive Frills".  It is a beautiful Christmas set, with the wreath and accessories for it! I stamped the wreath on Old Olive cardstock in Old Olive ink, then cut it out, and accessorized it with sparkly red and gold stickles (which reminded me of berries).  The bird was stamped in Riding Hood Red, and set up on dimensionals atop the wreath.  I stamped my 3 background panels (Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, and Blue Bayou) with a stamp from this set in the same ink color as the paper.  The actual card is Creamy Caramel cardstock.  The sentiment is from a SU! hostess set called "Best Yet" and was placed inside a Stylized Vanilla bookplate.  Enjoy!

I Met Eli Manning!

Yep, he was in the city yesterday, just like me, in fact here is our picture together!

Haha, did I have you fooled? This is a picture taken at the Wax Museum, with none other than Eli Manning, our favorite Giants player!  My friends and I took a trip into NYC yesterday to visit the Wax Museum and the Christmas tree.

Today I got back to doing some stamping, finally! I made these 2 cards with a Close to my Heart stamp set called "All Decked Out," which was part of a November special with the catalog.  There are a ton of snowman parts, which you can mix and match to make your own snowman.  Both cards use SU! cardstock in Riding Hood Red, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, and Blue Bayou (an older retired color).  I used stickles on the snow and snowflakes to add a bit of sparkle.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Believe!

Wow, it's been too long! I wanted to share this Christmas banner I made tonight to hang in our living room.  I used Ski Slope dp, as well as Baja Breeze cardstock.  I stamped an image from "Season of Joy" on the largest pennant.  All edges were inked with a dauber and ink pad.  For the embellishments, I cut the snowflake from my Big Shot, out of white paper, and then heat embossed it with iridescent ice ep.  The letters were cut out with my Serif alphabet, out of chipboard, then inked with an Old Olive craft pad, and heat embossed with clear ep.  The whole thing was stringed together with cranberry grosgrain ribbon.  Here is a close up of one of the pennants.  The other pennants look identical, except for the letter.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Anniversary!

to my Grandparents! They celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary this past weekend. I will be seeing them tomorrow for Thanksgiving, so I finally made them a card to give to them. I actually made 2 cards, one from me and one from the rest of my family.

My first card uses SC204 on Splitcoast and features the stamp set "One of a Kind" as well as Bella Rose dp.  I stamped and cut out the main flower twice, and layered some pieces together to get this flower. I put a felt flower and a filigree flower and rhinestone brad on top to finish it off.  

This next card is the one that I chose to be from me, because I secretly like it better!  I used Afternoon Tea dp, which features some of last year's in-colors.  The stamp set is Eastern Blooms. I stamped the branch with leaves in versamark and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. I stamped the flowers and cut them out and layered them over the branch. In the middle of each flower is a clear bauble.  The sentiment is a Hero Arts stamp.

That's all for now! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It sure feels like Christmas here, the weather is so cold! (20s this morning).  I have some exciting news: I won something! On the Splitcoast Stampers MFT board, I entered my card for their Monday challenge, and I was randomly picked to win a $5 MFT gift certificate.  I know I won't have any trouble at all spending it!

Last night I went to see the huge movie, Twilight. I don't usually go see movies on opening night, or really get that hyped up to see movies, but Andy asked if I wanted to go with him and his girlfriend, so I said sure. We had to wait until the 10:15 showing because the earlier shows were sold out (and we went to get our tickets at 6:30).  Having no background knowledge of the books or premise of the movie (in fact while we were waiting, we had Andy look up a movie synopsis for us on his phone, since all 3 of us really had no idea what we were seeing!), I really enjoyed it! I'd definitely recommend it.

On to card related matters, I made 2 cards today with the Splicoast SC203.  Both use Stamping Bella stamps, one is a chichi fairy, and one is a bella.  Both cards uses dp by K & Co, there Christmas line called "Christmas Cheer".  I used SU! rub-ons for the sentiments.  The snowflake and branch punches are both my Martha Stewart.  

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Warmed Hearts

Good Evening! I am in the middle of watching Dancing with the Stars, and I thought I'd post the card I made this evening for MFTWTG10 challenge on Splitcoast. The challenge was to use  "Gone with Dogs" which I don't actually own, so I substituted "Baby It's Cold Outside," plus 3 buttons and 2 different designer papers. I used dp from BasicGrey, called "Two Scoops". I thought the colors were pretty pastels for the winter.  I placed the main image on 2 nestabilities scallop squares.  I cut out a Sizzix snowflake, which I covered in Iridescent Ice embossing powder, and placed that underneath my main image panel.  I used my buttons here, to accent the snowflake. Next to the sentiment panel, I added a Heidi Swapp ghost star, which I backed with dp.  Thanks for stopping by!

Joyful Owls

I finally finished this card this afternoon. I restamped and colored the main image, and I am much happier with the results! I followed the MFTSC54 for this card.  The dp is  by BasicGrey, it is their new Christmas line called "Wassail".  The stamp set is "Owl Christmas," which I colored with my SU! markers, and paper pieced with the dp.  The snowflake border punch is a new one that I picked up at Michael's, by Martha Stewart. I used a Vanilla hodgepodge bookplate for my sentiment panel.  The scallop circle is a Sizzix die cut.  I believe that's all for now.  Have a great start of the week tomorrow!

Holiday Cards

Hi! Sorry I've been away for so long, but I really haven't had much time to stamp. Today I finally used some of my new MFT stamps that I've had for awhile now.  Both cards use stamps from the Stephanie Fizer line.

My first card uses "A Scarf for Three".  I colored the image in with my aquapainter and SU! reinkers.  The frame around the image is paper pieced.  The dp is a new Christmas stack from My Mind's Eye that I found at Michael's this week.  The snowflakes are a Martha Stewart punch, which I coated with Versamark and then added Iridescent Ice and heat embossed them.  This card follows the Splitcoast SC202 for the week.

My next card uses "Peppermint Cats."  If you know me, you'll know that I am not a cat person, but I thought these kitties were super cute, so I went with it!  The main image is colored with my Aquapainter and reinkers.  The paper is, again from My Mind's Eye, and the punched snowflakes are from a Martha Stewart punch. To get the glittered circle in the center of the snowflake, I put a mini glue dot there, and sprinkled some glitter over it.  I also used some Heidi Swapp ghost stars, which I adhered with rhinestone brads.  This card uses the sketch from MFTSC56.

I have another card currently in progress on my desk right now, but I'm having some coloring issues, so who knows when it will be finished!

May All Your Wishes Come True!

Hi! I've been neglecting my blog for the past week or so, but really I haven't really been too creative. I have done some scrapbooking (shocking, I know!), but tonight I finally made a card! My neighbor asked me to make her a set of cards to give to her daughter for her birthday, so I made this card to go with 3 others I had that were all done with this stamp set and paper pack.  The paper pack is Haiku, and the stamp set is Eastern Blooms.

I am leaving for Atlantic City tomorrow afternoon, for the NJ Teacher's Convention.  2 days in Atlantic City seems like a treat, more than work, but I will be going to workshops and conferences while I am there.  Have a great rest of your week!

Birthday Wishes

Good evening! I have some birthday cards to share tonight, which I made this past weekend.  This month, SU! has select birthday sets at 20% off, which is a great deal! I finally got my Top Note die cut in the mail, since it has been on backorder for a few weeks from SU. I used it for the first time on my "Party Hearty" card.

My second card uses "Crazy for Cupcakes," which is layered on a few nestie ovals. I used the new "Sweet Always" dp, and some pretty pink polka dot ribbon.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

An Odd Request

Good afternoon! I received an odd request from my Dad this week for a card.  He and my brother are scuba divers and just got back from a weekend where they took an advanced course.  He wanted a card for the instructor to go along with a gift he was giving him.  Here comes the odd part, he wanted a card with a scuba diver holding a rifle with a deer in the background.  The instructor is both a scuba diver and a hunter. I told him I had no stamps of any of the 3 requested things, so I did my own thing, which I thought would work for a hunter. My dad was disappointed that he didn't get his desired card, but as my mom told him, you can't request something that specific from an artist!

I made a belly band to go around the gift card box, featuring some Sizzix die cuts from my Big Shot.  I cut squares of the dp and then layered them on white cardstock before I ran it through my Big Shot with the Top Note die.  It created this neat patchwork look.  I also used the bird from the Sizzlit die cut, which I paired with a scallop circle.  Many thanks was stamped and cut out with my oval punches.  I think it's cute, even if it wasn't what my dad expected!

I also made this card yesterday for SC198 on Splitcoast.  I really liked the way the circle is framed by a few scallops, one underneath and one behind the dp.  I used the stamp set "Happy Blessings" from the new mini catalog, as well as some of the dp from that same catalog.  The scallop circles are Marvy Uchida punches and a Sizzix circle.  On the bottom piece of dp, I ran it through my cuttlebug embossing folder which has pumpkins on vines.  For the sentiment panel, I punched a leaf from an old CM punch and layered a vellum circle stamped with the sentiment on top of that.  I finished the card with some brads along the line of the dp.

Here's one more from my marathon of stamping!  This card features the absolutely adorable Flopsey from MFT.  I stamped Flopsey reading his book and then colored him with my SU! markers, adding some grass so that he is super comfy!  The dp is by SU! called "Sweet Always", and I cut three different designs with my nestie rectangles.  The flower is from the SU! punch out pack, which I paper pierced and put circles on top of to dress it up a bit.  I stamped part of the sentiment on Flopsey's main panel, and then the rest of the sentiment on a piece of Creamy Caramel cardstock which I tucked into the corner of the card.  I just love this sentiment, because it is so true, that with some people you can just pick up where you've left off no matter how long it has been since you've seen each other.  This one will be going out in the mail this week to a special friend.

Have a great rest of your weekend!