House Mouse Easter Surprise Bag Set

This week's House Mouse Challenge was to make a bag or box. I thought these pretty Heidi Grace papers I had gotten at ACMoore would make cute little Easter treat bags. I used a bag I already had and traced it for my pattern.

I stamped the images with Archival Jet Black and colored with Prisma Pencils, and blended with goo gone. (Thanks Dawn for that tip... it worked pretty well on the GPW CS). I paper pieced the egg shells. I used my Stardust clear glitter gelly roll pen... I think I use it on everything! Unfortunately I can't seem to get a good photo of these guys. My make shift light box is not able to get adequate light to both bags at the same time. It's dark outside, so I'm just not getting a good photo. It's not supposed to be sunny here until Sat. so this will have to do.

These were fun to make and I think these little bags could have lots of possibilities.

If you'd like to play along on the House Mouse Challenges, click on the little HM Banner on my right side bar.

Thanks for taking a peek! Have a great night!

Be Well Mojo Color Challenge

Hello everyone!

Today's color challenge on SCS was Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip and
Ridinghood Red. I used my Candy Stripe DP which has these colors in it, and my image is from Great Impressions, stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored with Copics. I wish I had used inks to watercolor because my Copic selection didn't yield the right pink so I used a more violet color, but it would have been better to use ink and nail the colors. Oh well... this sketch was Julee's Mojo sketch #80. I liked working with it.

I used the Swiss Dot CB folder for my background, and did a little paper piercing. The round sentiment panel is stamped with a Hero Arts peg stamp, and cut with the smallest nesty circle and a Quickutz flower die cut. I used my Stardust clear glitter gelly roll pen to give some glitter. It seems I have need of several get well cards this week, as well as two sympathy cards, so I need to get cracking!

I hope you are having a great day! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Penny Black Cutie Pie

Hi again!

I made this card for our little group on SCS... we were to create a card that reminded us of another member. I made this using my Penny Black sweetie pie. Isn't she just the cutest?

I stamped her on Hot Press Watercolor Paper with Archival Jet Black, and watercolored her with SU! Markers and a Paint Brush. I love this technique!!!

I used Bazzill Bling as a base and BasicGrey DP from a 6 x 6 stack (Porcelain). I added sparkle with my Stardust Clear Glitter Gelly Roll Pen, and added some sheer dotted ribbon.

This was a really fun one to color! Hope you like it and thanks so much for all the sweet comments!

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge ~ Monochromatic and Purple!!!

Hello everyone!

Today's Clear Dollar Stamps Color Challenge over on PCP is to make a monochromatic card, and a further challenge was to use purple. We could use as many shades of our color as we wanted, and white for a neutral.

I don't honestly have a lot of purple ink! I ended up pulling out the really retired (like 07???)"In color" from SU!... Vintage Violet. I still had the ink, ribbon and card stock, so that worked for me! I also found this lavender cs in my stash, sorry I don't know where it came from. I rarely use purple!

I used two Clear Dollar Stamp Sets here. The Sentiment is from "In God's Hands", and the flowers and Hummingbird are the March 2009 Set "Sweet Hummingbird". I stamped the sentiment in Vintage Violet and cut out the oval with my Nesties. I matted that in lavender and then a scalloped Vintage Violet layer. I matted my card the same way, and the white layer I ran through the cuttlebug for some texture. My flowers and hummer are first stamped in VersaMark, then Vintage Violet, and Clear Heat Embossed. I then cut out one flower / bird image and three more flowers from which I cut the hummer. I punched some Martha Stewart Greenery Punches from the lavender, and popped up my flowers on dimensionals.

I love these Clear Dollar Stamps! There are so many great Scriptures, images and great sentiments! They really stamp well too... make great impressions!

Thanks for taking a peek! Sorry the photo is dark, but it's dark here and going to be tomorrow... so I just did what I could with my lamp. Have a great weekend!

A sweetie for a sweetie

Hello everyone!

I have another card that I made last night. This was done for a challenge I do with a small group of friends on SCS. We were to make a card that reminded us of another one of the ladies in the group.

I had just received this image from sweet Peggy and just had to color it! I used Prisma Pencils and Odor Free Mineral Spirits to blend it. I sponged Brocade Blue on the sky with a clouds template from Rosie's Road Show. Then I added a few rows of torn Kraft to created a sand doon. I lightly sponged this with Creamy Caramel. I used my Stardust Clear Glitter Gelly Roll Pen to give some sparkle, and added the little starfish.

I think this little girl is just so sweet! She reminds my of my little DGD because every time she comes to Gramma's house she spends hours at the shoreline picking up shells and of course they all have to be saved!!! LOL! These are such precious times! For you young Mom's who are wishing away "this stage" hoping the next stage will be better.... savor every minute! They grow so quickly!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Sweet 'n Sassy Sketch 9 and Color Combo

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful Friday! It's gloomy here again and I am still not feeling great, but I got a couple of cards made last night.

This one is for the Sweet 'N Sassy Sketch Challenge(8) over on PCP and also for the color challange on the Sweet 'N Sassy Blog (link in my side bar) The color challenge was unique in that we could choose to use either pink and orange or pink and brown! I love pink and brown so it was a no brainer for me!

I used my Scripture stamp from the SNS "Trust in the Lord" set, and stamped it in Chocolate Chip on GP White. I cut it with my long nesties and sponged around the edges. The designer paper I used came from my BasicGrey 6 x 6 pack ~ Sultry. Love these little pads so much because the designs are scaled better for cards than the 12 x 12 pads! I had this pink and brown ribbon from Michael's forever, but it looked dwarfed by itself on the card, so I added a white panel punched with my Martha Stewart edge punch and that seemed to do the trick. The butterfly is also from Martha Stewart, stamped on the dp, then painted with Shimmerz "Opal". I love Shimmerz!!! Anyway, the base is chocolate and that's about it.... a quick and easy sketch!

Our Senior Pastor's wife is going through a difficult time right now and I made this for her. I hope it gives her encouragement.

Some Bunny Loves You Happy Hopper

Hello everyone!

I hope you are having a great Thursday! I'm fighting a bug and feel a bit yucky... but I did manage to get this card done.

This was for two challenges: WT211 on SCS, and the House Mouse Weekly Challenge to make a shaped card.... something not square or rectangular. I had this little happy hopper stamp and I thought it would look cute on a heart shaped card.

The Way To Use It Challenge was called Hot Metal, and required we use our Iron! I HATE my Iron!!! Yikes, and while it was out I felt compelled to iron all the clothes that were in need.... so it took me forever to get the card done! LOL! But the technique I used was really run and different.

First, I folded Pretty In Pink CS and used my Nesties to cut a heart shape, leaving one side just inside the cut line so the fold would stay intact. I considered making the heart upright with the hinge on the upper left side, but I liked this better. Since I don't care for the way the heart nesties nest, I cut another full sized heart out of GPW, and cut along the embossed line for a better nest. I then took a piece of wax paper and ran it through my cuttlebug with this flower folder. I made a sandwich of first a piece of scrap paper, then the wax paper, then the cs, then another piece of scrap paper. I pressed this with a hot iron. You have to be careful not to move the iron around to get more areas.... just lift and press where it's needed. Then, with a wax impression on the cs, I used my brayer to put on pink color and it's basically a resist technique. I loved the way it came out. The tutorial for how to do wax paper resist is on SCS under tutorials, and I first saw the idea to use the cb this morning in that challenge thread done by Deb Horst.

I stamped my happy hopper image on GPW with Archival jet black ink and then colored with Prisma Pencils and blended with Odor Free Mineral Spirits. I added Pretty in Pink Ribbon and some glitter from my Stardust Clear Glitter Gelly Roll Pen.

A fun little card today in soft pretty colors for a dark dreary day! Hope you liked it! Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to play in the House Mouse Challenge, see the link on my sidebar! The more the merrier!

Multi-challenge card with an Asian twist

Hello everyone!

Today's Color Challenge on SCS (CC211) was to use Pretty in Pink, Kiwi Kiss (or Old Olive) and Baja Breeze. I also wanted to play in Julee's Mojo Monday Challenge, mojo79, and Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge FTTC8.... to use embossing. There's a link to both the Mojo Monday and Timeless Tuesday's Challenges on my sidebar, so come join the fun!

I am soooo excited! I won a Verve set of my choice during the project parade! Whahoo!!! I LOVE Verve stamps! I cannot wait to get my set! If you haven't played, check it out here: http://vervestamps.blogspot.com/ There's still time to join in the project parade and have a chance to win!

So today, even though it's dreary outside, and my body hurts, I'm doing the happy dance! I had fun making this card. I recently bought this stamp by Memory Box along with a 6 x 6 paper stack called Sugar Drop. Memory Box sure has come out with some great papers lately! I loved this pack and got a couple others which I'm sure you'll be seeing shortly. Anyway, I stamped the image with Stazon Timber Brown, on hot press watercolor paper (LOVE this stuff... thanks for the tip Dawn). I used SU! markers in Old Olive and Pretty in Pink, and a paint brush to color these tiny flowers and leaves. I outlined the flowers and centers with my Stardust Gelly Roll Pen for some glitter, which totally does not show up in my photo... but it's there. I LOVE that pen!!!

The sketch I used today was Julee's Mojo Monday sketch. For the Flourishes Tues. challenge, to use embossing, I used my cuttlebug to emboss these leaves, which have an Asian flare, and I thought they set off my image well. I matted everything on a Baja Breeze base. I used a Martha Stewart edge punch for my dp panel mat, and SU! Pretty in Pink Ribbon. The image itself is on dimensionals. It's a simple card, but I love how it turned out.

Did I mention I WON a free VERVE set? Wahoo!!! I guess you can tell I'm excited!

I hope you have a wonderful day, and thanks for taking a peek at my blog! Come back soon, and if you haven't already, please sign my guest book near the bottom of the page!

His Holy Name Challenge - Creator and Almighty

Hello everyone!

I am finally getting caught up on some of what I missed over the past couple of weeks. I have been participating in the "His Holy Name" Challenge on SCS, and this is my 6 x 6 page for "Creator". I chose Rev. 4:11..."Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." I also chose to look at "creator" in a different way, and quoted David in Ps. 51:10..."Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Not only did our God create the universe and everything that is... He also is intimately involved in our lives, and desires a relationship with us. Since we have no righteousness of our own, it is only through the gift of the shed blood of Jesus that we can stand before a Holy God, clean and righteous in His sight, justified by faith in Christ Jesus. So as I ponder the word "Creator", I can't help but marvel that that same God... who created all things, loves me and works in my heart and life every moment. So I added David's prayer to my page.


I have not scrapbooked much at all, and what I have done was years ago, so my pages are not really about great papers and fancy embellishments... I know they are simple, but for me, this is about the Bible study and the wonderful verses that are speaking to my heart as I read about God's names and attributes.


If you would like to join us, you'll find the challenge here.


For this page I used some of Memory Box's great new 6 x 6 packs... The Butterfield Collection. My verses are all done on the computer. The letters are old punch out letters I had for ages, and I added a black outline with my Tombow marker to create a beveled look. Sorry the photo isn't the best... maybe later I can get a better one.

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My next page is for "Almighty". For this page I used two verses from The book of Revelation. "I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, The Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come, the almighty." Rev. 1:8. I also used part of Rev. 4:8 "... Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, The almighty, who was and who is and who is to come". These verses stress the uniqueness of God in that He is all powerful, and He is without beginning or end....He is omnipotent.


The other verse I chose is "O Lord Almighty, who is like you? You are Mighty; O Lord, and Your faithfulness surrounds You." Ps.89:8 This verse brings this attribute to me in an up close and personal way... I can trust in His faithfulness, because He is Almighty!


For this page I used Basic Grey's "Perhaps" for the background as well as the matting. I used letters from the BG Scarlett Letter pack I have, and the verses are all printed from the computer.


Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my blog and have a look. I hope these verses have blessed your heart as they have mine!

Mini Easter Basket

Good Monday everyone! I don't know where this past week has gone but here we are in another one!

I have not done hardly any SCS challenges since I got back from my Daughter's house... but today's Technique Lover's Challenge enticed me, and I had to try it. The instructions are easy to follow and you can find them on SCS under TLC213

here

I did not want the printer lines to show so I printed the template out on copy paper and traced onto my DP. I used EK Success DP for the outside of the basket, and the dotted paper is Anna Griffin. I did make a couple of alterations to the pattern. I wanted to add this punched edge so in order for it not to dominate the whole basket I cut the fold down part of the liner in half, and glued the punched edge under that. Also, I wasn't real happy with how the corners looked on the folded edges... so I made a teeniny strip which I glued behind each side of the folded down portion and drew them together... it formed a strap to bring the corners of the folded portions together and keep them from flapping out. Does that make sense? I can't seem to find the right words to describe what I did! LOL!

I kept the decorations simple because this is really a small basket and I didn't want to overwhelm it with decor. I used a daisy punch from EK Success, scraps of vanilla and mellow moss and a MS Punch for the leaves. I sponged the vanilla with Pretty in Pink ink, added the MS punched butterfly and some bling and called it done. This was a fun and easy project. I might do more for the Easter table... I thought they'd make nice favors for each place setting.

I hope you have a blessed day! Thanks for taking a peek!

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday!

Last night I made a card for this weekend's Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge over on PCP. We were to use Real Red, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip and White. I found this to be quite a challenge! I think nautical when I think of these colors but to do this challenge you must use Clear Dollar Stamps and so since I don't have any nautical ones that are CD, I used my Leaf Impressions set and stamped the leaves in RR, CC and BB. I also used Real Red DP, and Bashful Blue, which I ran through my cuttlebug with a springy flower ef for the red, and the snowflake ef for the blue. I cut each color into strips and mounted on Papertrey Chocolate CS base... LOVE this Papertrey paper!!!

The CD verse is stamped in Chocolate Chip and is Ecc. 3:1 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." I then punched a couple daisies from white, sponged in RR, cut a chocolate stem with the SU! embosslit, and punched two butterflies with the Martha Stewart Punch. I added some bling and a bashful blue ribbon. While this is not my usual style, I guess it pulled together pretty well.

Thanks for taking a peek. Have a blessed weekend!

What's Buggin' Ya?

Last Week's Limited Supply Challenge on SCS was to use a bug on our card. Since I was away... I wanted to do the challenge today, so I used my Whipper Snapper Lady Bug image, stamped in Memento Black ink, then colored with Copics. The stipulations of the limited supply challenge were that we could not use designer paper, and no more than four layers. So.... I kept it simple! My sentiment is from See D's, and the image and sentiment are layered on basic black. I used the SU! slot punch and three different ribbons as my only embellishment.

I couldn't help think about my daughter and son in law who just moved to the mountains of TN this past week when I saw this challenge. In the mountains, they grow lots of Christmas Trees, and for some reason, they had brought in tons of Lady Bugs to help control some other kind of bug or disease I guess??? Anyway... it was done for a purpose, but now the lady bugs are everywhere (apparently they are quite prolific) and they drive my son in law crazy! They get into the house and at any given time you can find several inside. I thought I'd send this card to them.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I don't have all the Copics I need to do the recommended style of shading and highlighting, so I thought I'd show you the colors I used on this card. You'll see that I have very few that are just the perfect couple of steps apart. To do my blending, I first color with my lightest color, then using that marker, I take a bit of ink off the darker one to shade, if I have a darker shade. If I don't, I just add layer on layer of the same color until it looks darker. I'm no pro with Copics.... I'm still learning... but I have found these few things to help. Hope they help you too!

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and please sign my guest book near the bottom if you haven't already!

Verve Project Parade: Eggstra Special

Happy Thursday everyone!

Today I decided to play along with the Verve Project Parade, "Eggstra Special". I wanted to do something *different*... not the usual bunnies etc. I wanted a way to give the true meaning of Easter, while still making something pretty and springy in nature. I came up with this design on my own. I don't know if anyone else has done this before, but there are so many "baskets" out there that it's quite possible it has been done, I just haven't seen any. I'm going to attempt to tell you what I did to make this in case you'd like to try it.

I cut two of the largest scalloped oval Nestabilities out of Papertrey Spring Moss CS. I also cut a 1" wide strip 6.25" long. This forms the body of the basket. I then cut an oval of K&Co. Embossed Vellum and attached to the front of one scalloped oval with vellum tape.

In the 1" wide strip I cut 2 slits with my Fiskars finger blade, about 3/4" from each end. I passed a piece of ribbon through these slits, punched a hole through paper and ribbon and inserted sparkly brads. For mine, I left enough ribbon to cover the brad and attach to the inside of the strip, giving a finished off look.

I applied a very tiny bead of Tombow Metal Glue to one edge of my 1" strip after determining the center point top and bottom of my ovals, and starting at the two top points, I pressed into place, making a rounded "u" shaped bottom. When I had that in place I ran another tiny bead of glue on the other edge of the strip and lining up my ovals, I attached the other oval, quickly standing basket up to be sure the front and back were lined up perfectly and stood without help.

Then I just decorated the front. I didn't want to hide too much of the gorgeous vellum, so I made a small oval sentiment panel, stamping on watercolor paper, with Memento Rick Cocoa, the sentiment from Clear Dollar Stamps called "In God's Hands". I lightly stamped a fern from See Dees Morsels Set "Flowers and Ferns" in River Rock. I matted this sentiment panel with a scalloped layer of Papertrey's Sweet Blush CS. For the cross I stamped Verve's Cross from "Jeremiah 29:11" set in Memento Rich Cocoa on watercolor paper and cut out. I decorated the cross with a strip of leaf ribbon, and one tiny quilled flower my SCS friend, MariLynn sent me. (MariLynn.... thank you soooo much!) Both the sentiment panel and the cross are popped up on dimensionals.

This basket stands on it's own as shown, but also looks nice hanging. Here's a couple more views.

Ocean's 11 Challenge #3... Dry Embossing

This is a quick card I made for my blogger group Ocean 11's Challenge #3.... which was to use dry embossing on our card. My first thought was that I had just received my SU! order with the "Sweetest Stem Embosslit Die". This cute little folder both embosses and die cuts. I had wanted it to use with the Rasberry Tart DP. When I started playing with it I had a little trouble liking what I was getting with a single color cut out, so I cut two out of Regal Rose, and one out of Kiwi Kiss. I outlined one of the rose colored flower sets with my SU! marker, then cut along the embossed lines. I cut another and glued just behind the kiwi layer, to give a bit of depth. On that layer I added white dots with my Signo Gel Pen. I should have let them dry better before mounting them but being in a hurry, I didn't wait. Oh well. I cut ovals with my Nestabilities from both Regal Rose and the Rasberry Tart DP, then a small Nestabilities frame from the same DP set, different print. I used Kiwi Kiss for my base, cuttlebug embossed a GPW layer in the bug, then added my layers. The frame and flower are both up on pop dots. The ribbon is a rasberry ribbon I had in my stash, and the green trim also was in my stash. No stamping on this card at all, though there is room for a sentiment later.

This was a simple card except for futzing with the die cut. I did however come up with a couple other ideas for this little flower so hopefully it wasn't time wasted. LOL!

So I think I'm caught up on my blogger challenges after being gone! Thanks for taking a peek and have a wonderful day!

Spring Has Sprung!

Hello everyone!

Today when the fog lifts it's supposed to be nearly 70 degrees and sunny, and I'm ready after what seems like a week of rain!

This card was made for Sketch Challenge 220 on SCS and also for last week's Ocean's 11 Challenge to make a sky on our card. Unfortunately my sky doesn't show up well in this photo, but it's sponged with pastels, using a cloud template that I purchased from Rosie's Roadshow.

The image is from Whipper Snapper and is stamped on Georgia Pacific White with Memento Ink, then colored with Copics. I have been experimenting with my Copics. They say you need three colors in close proximity of numbers for shading, but because Copics lay down layer on layer, I have been trying to just use the same marker and go over the darker areas more times. I think it works if you can't afford to buy all the shades you need in each color family.

The sketch today was great!!! I will definitely use this one again! I used SU!'s Certainly Celery DP from last year (now discontinued but replaced with a different one). I layered my strips on GPBlack, and then on GPWhite. That all got mounted on a GPB base. The image panel is popped up on dimensionals, and has stickles added, as well as a ribbon through a slot punched hole, and a layered flower in the corner. I love these springy colors.... always a sucker for pastels!

Thanks for taking a peek at my card! Ocean's 11 gals... I'm late but I got the sky one done. I was going to emboss my panels and get the third one in too but decided to do a seperate one for challenge 3... hopefully today I'll have time to do another!

I hope everyone has a happy spring!

Roman Road Color Challenge

Hello everyone! Whew.... I am exhausted from the trip and the amount of work required to move the kids, but all went well. We were very well organized and packed by the time the guys (my daughter's husband, and mine) got there to load. We loaded the largest Uhaul truck they make, plus the largest trailer they have, plus their truck, their car and my car all packed to the top.... and did it all in the pouring rain. We drove to TN on Sat in pouring rain. This was the most stressful part for me, because with firbromyalgia, driving long distances can be a killer, but God was gracious and I made it safely. The kids did not get the house they were trying for, so we put it all in storage until they can move into their house. Yes.... they did find another house and now are under contract so in a month, we have to do it again, but there won't be a long drive involved this time!!!

So... with that behind me, I had to make a card today before trying to catch up on housework and all the things I left behind.

This card was made for today's color challenge on SCS: Riding Hood Red, Kraft, and Summer Sun. I had received my Clear Dollar order the day I left, and was dying to use some, so even though a floral would have been easier in these colors, I used this wonderful stamp called "Roman Road". I have used the Roman Road often as a quick Scriptural walk through the process of Salvation offered to us through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

I stamped it in Archival Jet Black on Georgia Pacific White, over stamped the cross in RR, then sponged on a "sun" in Summer Sun Pastels, using a sponge dauber. I brought rays of yellow radiating out from the sun to the edges of the paper, then sponged yellow and then red around the edges. I mounted this on a layer of Kraft, then used this great DP from Memory Box. It is a perfect match for Kraft and Riding Hood Red, and I thought the little blobs of red looked like the drops of blood shed for me on Calvary's cross.

I used my Cuttlebug and die cut to cut the Red scroll and flowers. Added yellow centers and that was it. A simple card that I hope sends a strong message on the wonderful gift God gave us when He sent His Son to die for us.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I missed you all! Hugs to you!

Ocean's 11 3-D Challenge

One last post before I leave.... what? I should be getting ready? I CAN'T.... there's a challenge still undone! LOL! I don't know what has happened to me but I am a woman DRIVEN by challenges! LOL

That said I did use a really simple technique this morning because seriously I am in a time crunch. The great new Blog group I joined (Ocean's 11... all the blogs are listed in my side bar near the bottom.... please check them all out... there is unbelievable talent there)...decided to do a challenge which we will take turns announcing. This week is our first challenge, issued by Chirleen, and I just couldn't miss the first one! LOL! Chirleen told us to do a 3-D card with a spring theme. I wanted to do a diarama card but just don't have the time for that, so I used this wonderful set from Romak by Ritva Rasmussen. I got this set from a wonderful stamp store about an hour from here. The images are already stamped and ready to punch out. You then pop them up using the Paper Tole technique. It couldn't have been quicker this morning. I do think I'll add some yellow stickles to the centers for a little more impact.

Here in NC we actually plant Pansies in the fall, because they can tolerate the winter, and then are fully blooming by spring. They don't make it through our hot summers here. My very best ever friend who lives in Maine LOVES Pansies, so when I saw this set I had to buy it for her.

I mounted my paper tole project on a Label One Die Cut from Nestabilities, and I lightly sponged the GPW with Certainly Celery. I mounted that on Purple Bazzill which I textured with the textile EF and my Cuttlebug. I mounted that on a white base which I also lightly sponged around the edges with Certainly Celery. I tied a Certainly Celery Ribbon at the top and it's done. Easy peasy, but packs a punch in impact! Hope you like my springy 3-D card! I will be back in about a week and a half... I will miss you all!

Single Layer Challenge: Three Cards

A small group of friends on SCS do a weekly challenge. We upload on Fridays, but since I will be away I did mine tonight. The rules for this challenge were VERY resrictive!!!

We had to make THREE cards, and the ALL could only be ONE single layer! We were allowed to use One Punch if desired, one embellishment, and one ribbon on each. The cards had to be appropriate for a birthday card...although they did not have to have a birthday sentiment on them.

1. One card had to be a cutesy animal card.

2. One card had to be a guy card.

3. One card had to be a coffee theme or brown in color.

Whew! Talk about hard! I never realized how many layers I use until I was told I could only use one! LOL!

So this is my cutesy animal card. I chose this cute little house mouse image from Stampabilities. It's called Buzzy Friends. I stamped with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored with Prisma Pencils and blended with Odor Free Mineral Spirits. I love coloring these little guys... they're so cute! I had to add a little sparkle so on their wings I lightly colored with my pencils and then painted "Shimmerz" in Angel Wings over top... did two coats. Shimmerz is such a great paint! I love the shimmer it gave the wings. I also colored over the lines of the wings with my clear glitter gel pen. The photo does not show it but they are sparkly and really pretty. I added Stickles to the anntenae. I thought this ribbon was about perfect and helped fill the space on this single layer card. Did I mention these card have to be single layers?

I'm glad I did this challenge! I never thought a single layer could look good, but it really isn't that bad. I hope you like it... it's good to challenge ourselves every now and then, and this one challenged me! I was dying to layer some black matting on here but I restrained myself!

Tio challenge #2

This was card # 2 for the single layer challenge. This one had to be a "guy" card. I used a Northwoods Rubber Stamp, and stamped it with Stazon on H2O paper. I found this difficult to color because it was so heavily lined. I decided to just do a real watercolor wash on it, so I used SU! Markers and a paint brush. Then I added detail to the leaves, trees, water etc. Of the three cards, believe it or not this one took me the longest. This reminds me so much of my hubby. He loves to fish and has a red canoe, so I painted the canoe like his. I think he'll like this one. Hope you do too!

A Challenge that was difficult!!!

This was my third single layer card... the one that had to have a coffee theme. I stamped the Stampabilities House Mouse image and colored with Prisma Pencils, blended with odor free mineral spirits, then painted the mug with a couple of coats of Diamond Glaze, which really gave it a shine. I stamped the Stampabilities sentiment and the little coffee bean from a Hero Arts Clear set in Chocolate Chip. I sponged Creamy Caramel around the edges, and also Ranger Distress Ink in Antique Linen. For the scalloped border I used my corner rounder without the guard on it. I used a camel color ribbon with a cranberry colored thread woven through it. I added some shimmer with my clear glitter gel pen... the wafts, coffee beans and the little mouse' toenails, eyes and nose have just a dot.

I hope you like this trio of single layer cards. Never have I done any more difficult challenge than this! Oh how I longed for a few layers!!! LOL! But I did not cheat and I feel I learned a few things along the way... and that's what a challenge is all about!

I will be gone for a week and a half at least, so please don't give up on me... I'll be back and will be chompin at the bit to stamp and share again! Thanks for looking!

Happy Spring!

Hi all!
I hope to have a few new ones to post later on but for now, this was my submission for today's skech challenge on SCS. It was a fun one... I love offset layouts so this was right up my alley!

We are having record cold temps for March here in NC, but by the weekend it is supposed to be in the 70's! I won't be here.... I'll be in AL. where it will be nearly 80 according to my daughter! So... while I'm packing winter jacket, etc. I'm also packing capris and short sleeved tops! That's the nature of this time of year. March definitely came in like a lion here... so as the saying goes, "...in like a lion, out like a lamb!" So in honor of this great weather that's coming, I made this Happy Spring card.

I got to use my new designer paper from SU!... Delicate Dots. Wow! I LOVE this paper! The colors are soo delicate and pretty! My image is Great Impressions, and is stamped on watercolor paper, and watercolored with SU! Markers, except the watering can... that's done with Copics. There are stickles on each image but they don't seem to show up. Everything is layered on SU! Kraft. I am really happy with how this came out and I'm glad it went together quickly this morning as I have a lot to do today! Hope you like this and have a great Wednesday!!!

Chocolate Rosey Kisses

Hello everyone!

I was gone much of today and wasn't going to play the color challenge on SCS, but when I got home I just had to try it. The colors were Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, and Pixie Pink. Well I do not love Pixie Pink... in fact it make me feel ill! LOL! So I used Regal Rose instead.... much better in my opinion!

I had this set for probably a year now... it's a clear set by Fiskars and the designer is Tricia Santry. The images are super cute and I loved it when I bought it but have never inked it! Well... today's colors called "Turtles" to me! So I stamped the turtles in Old Olive, colored in with Kiwi Kiss ink, and then outlined the whole stack in chocolate chip marker. The flowers were stamped using markers. I decided to use the silks instead of the stamped images. I used a ton of bling on this turle stack! I know a certain little young lady who will love this. The ribbon is a yummy chocolate satin, and the tag is another stamp from the same set. There is a butterfly brad in the corner. Hope you like my blinged up card!

Hiding in the Bullrushes

Hello everyone! Blogger ate my first post, so we're trying this again, but shorter this time! LOL!

Today's Technique Lover's Challenge On Splitcoast Stampers was to make a Crimped Envelope Pocket Card. The idea was to seal an envelope and slice off a section on the short side. Then you were to run the lower part through the crimper, and then decorate as desired. I don't have a crimper so I had to improvise. I wanted a "guy" card so I chose a tannish colored envelope and thought I'd use my Cuttlebug for the texturing, hoping that would make the bottom just enough smaller that the top would fit over top. My first envelope was too thin and I didn't care for the whole envie to be cuttlebugged. So I took that apart and used it as a template, and made my own envelope out of card stock. The marbled cs is some old paper I've had forever and don't know where it came from, but it was just the right weight. So I cuttlebugged top and bottom of the envie, then I used VersMark on the raised parts, and then sponged on Chocolate Chip ink with a sponge dauber. Then for the card, I stamped my "Bird Watching" stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms (Sat. Evening Post Series) in chocolate Chip, mounted on CC card stock, added a jumbo eyelet and some twine. For the sentiment I used a stamp from SU! Refuge and Strength, then punched out a circle and a mat for it. Although my photo does not look like it, the card fits in the envie perfectly! Blame the photographer for the perspective problems... oh, that would be me! LOL! I thought this little mini plate stand would be a great way to display both pieces together but it puts the card closer than the envie and it makes it look way bigger! LOL! Oh well.... I promise it fits fine!

Thanks for taking a peek, and I hope you have a great day!