July ATC: Turtles!

Well, I've been busy as a bee with my new graphic design class and haven't had time to stamp much lately. Can you believe that even though it's called graphic design, I have to draw all of my designs by hand??? Crazy! I haven't actually drawn anything for a school assignment for at least 10 years, so it's been a rough learning curve. Nonetheless, I'm enjoying the challenge.



Enough about me, and on to my ATC. Thank goodness for Tracy and her monthly ATC group to motivate and inspire me! I did this turtle-themed one for July using a Denami Designs turtle and a Wordsworth sentiment. I really tried to do some shadowing on the turtles with my Copics, and I used a clear Glaze pen on their shells. Cute and simple, just the way I like it!

See you soon!

Denami Blog Hop!

Hi there, and welcome to my stop on the Denami Blog Hop! You should've just arrived here from Virginia Larsen's blog. If so, welcome! If you're just joining the hop, you may want to start at the Denami Design blog.

The theme of today's hop is Cuddly Critters, and I've got a darling one to share with you. Have you met their cute little mouse? I'll admit, a mouse isn't usually the first critter I want to cuddle with, but once you see Denami's, you'll understand why I just fell in love with the little guy. Wanna see?



I love how easy it is to have him and his friends peeking out from the holes in my hunk of homemade Swiss cheese. Fun!

Be sure to comment to be eligible to win one of those two $20 Denami gift certificates (given to people who comment along the hop), and thanks for stopping by!

Next stop: Laurel Beard's blog.

A Forest Wedding

In a couple of weeks, DH and I are lucky enough to be guests at a commitment ceremony for two of my good friends. This clever couple is doing it as a weekend-long celebration at a local campground, complete with a progressive dinner one night and a potluck for their wedding meal.

In keeping with the outdoorsy fun theme, I thought I'd make up a card to match. I used the A Muse Pine Tree Silhouette stamp that I won for this card (thanks A Muse!), an A Muse sentiment from the Everything's Rosy release, and some wedding chickies by Denami Design. The card is topped off with some ribbon I bought in 2005(!) that I finally finished off. Love using supplies I already have--the hoarding has got to stop!



Best wishes for a beautiful day!

May ATC

Here's my ATC for May 2010. The little chick is by Denami Design, and the sentiment is by A Muse.

Birthday Scoops!

I'm still on a Denami kick, playing with the new stamps I got a couple of weeks ago at the rubber stamp show in Sacramento. The ice cream cone stamp is has been available for a while, but those darling heart chips on the fourth scoop finally did me in.

I tried to step outside my comfort zone with a brighter color scheme, and I have to say, I'm a fan. Maybe I should tackle the brights more often!

Tracy's Sketch Challenge Card

I just barely managed to squeeze a card in under the wire (I hope!) for Tracy's Sketch Challenge.















I picked up the dotted frame and the wedded chicks at the show on Saturday. The line of pearls is by Memory Box.

See you soon!

Denami Sketch Challenge #2

Paulina reminded me that Denami has a sketch challenge up on their blog, so I went ahead and gave it a whirl.
















Oh, how I love those cherries! In case you can't read it, the sentiment says, "You're the cherry on top!" I thought it would make a good thank you note or just because note.

In other news, I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Because I work a 9/80 schedule, it'll actually be a four day weekend for me, which I desperately need. I would be so nice to get caught up on life. Hopefully in those four days I'll have some time to make some more cards too!

See you soon!

Well, it's been quite a month. I finished up two college classes (A's in both!), threw a Wild West party for 40, created table centerpieces for a 150+ person party, and dog-sat for this little troublemaker:


















Oh sure, he's cute, but did you see the chair? Yikes.

Needless to say, my other activities didn't leave me a lot of time for crafting.

When I'm getting back into cardmaking after some time away, I usually start off following some sketches. Here's a card I did following Taylored Expressions Sketch #113.


















This past weekend, I went to the Sacramento Rubber Stamp Show, and the samples at the Denami booth motivated me to pull out my Denami stamps when I got home. They've got some cute stuff!

Now that things have calmed down a bit, I hope to be back soon with more to share!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, I came up woefully short in the stamping department when it came to St. Patrick's Day themed stamps, but I did manage to pull a card together that's green. (Phew!)


















I love sending birthday cards, but when I cut it too close, it becomes a bit of a conundrum. Can I still send a birthday card on the day it should have been received? If I remember a day after, should I still send a card? Should I comment on the delay?

Enter the belated birthday card! Heaven forbid I should ever miss another birthday, at least now I'll have a ready-to-go card to make up for my shortcoming. Phew!

Hope your St. Patrick's Day is memorable and full of green!

Denami Challenge

One of my favorite stamp companies, Denami Design, has just started up weekly challenges on their blog. Their first challenge was a color challenge, so of course I had to play along. Here are the colors for the challenge:









And here is my card:














All of the stamps are by Denami Design. The card base is by Memory Box, and the patterned paper is by A Muse. Thanks for visiting!

Treats and Sweets Recap

One of the reasons I haven't been posting on here very much is that I have been super-busy prepping for an event that was held last week. As part of my volunteer work with Girl Scouts, I hosted a Treats and Sweets workshop for 25 people. We made a whole bunch of projects, with inspiration found all over blogland. Wanna see?

Ghirardelli Treat Box



















York Peppermint Patty Covers
















Pencil Pairs


















Treat Bags

















Hanging Hearts

















Lifesaver Matchbooks
















I simplified a lot of the projects from their original forms (for time and budget constraints), then pre-stamped all of the images, cut the papers to size, and created kits for each person. It was fun, but definitely a lot of work. Have you started prepping for Valentine's Day yet?

Happy Birthday!

Today is a very special day because it's my aunt's birthday! She's a fabulous lady, with a great laugh and the love of a great manhattan cocktail (which I can't even swallow!). Anyway, I thought I'd try and make her a card that's as classy as she is.

Here's my card:


















I originally saw this idea on a card by Julie Ebersole and I just fell in love. It's so simple, but it looks so complicated! I love stamps like Mini Flower that are so versatile. The sentiment is by Denami Designs, and I drew in the stem myself.

And, on a sidenote, come enter a sketch challenge hosted by Tracy Clemente! This week, she's celebrating a year of sketches by giving away $52 to a stamp store of your choice! I'm hoping to enter 10 cards (ambitious, I know), but all it takes is one to win! Come join us!

Trial and Error. . .

Happy Monday!

Did you have a good weekend? It was overcast and gray both mornings here in northern California, but each day it burned off just in time to reveal some pretty nice weather. So, my weekend was fun and sunny. Best of all, I got all of my projects done from last week, so I was freed up to do a few cards.

These three cards are all based on the same sketch, an oldie-but-goodie from Taylor Van Bruggen, Sketch #44.

Here's the sketch:



















Fun, right?

Well, I started off with this card:


















I was bound and determined to cut the striped patterned paper (rather than layering another blue circle on top of them), and that's where the challenge began for me. I really liked how this card turned out in terms of colors and patterns, but the circle wasn't quite even. I had cut a 3 inch square first, cut them apart and then punched the circle out of each corner before gluing them down. That didn't work.

For my next attempt, I tried using my Coluzzle to cut the circle out of the full 3 inch square, then cutting it apart and mounting it. (I also cut the center image to be the same size circle.) That had slightly better results, but the circle still seemed uneven:



















But, I think I got it on my last card. On this attempt, I used two different sized circles on my Coluzzle, the third track from the center for the patterned paper (which I pre-divided and glued down to a scrap of paper), and the second track from the center for the center image. Here's the result.


















Three cards later, I'm finally happy with the result. Does anyone else go crazy over little details like this?

Turtle Time!

Hi there! How was your weekend?

Mine was pretty laid-back. I had been planning to go camping with a group of friends, but at the last minute it was discovered that we had no reservations and the campground was booked. So, I got a bonus weekend at home to catch up and get things done with. I ran errands on Saturday, went for a walk with a good friend, and then spent part of Sunday playing in a park with another friend's 2 year old. Fun in the sun!

It's getting to be birthday season around here, so I thought I'd get started early (SHOCKER!) and get these cards done.

This one is for my friend Kat. She loves turtles (who doesn't?!), so I had to come up with a layout incorporating my tiny turtle from Denami Designs. Here's my first attempt.


















I like this card, but I think I can do better. Perhaps I'll find time later this week to try it again with these cuties. See you soon!

Tracy's Sketch Challenge

I've been jonesin' for challenges ever since A Muse a Palooza ended last week, so of course I had to do a card for Tracy's Sketch Challenge. And, given her big news, I just had to make a card for Tracy. Here it is!














I just love this little tiny cat by Denami Designs. She's almost as cute as Jinxy (but not quite!). I can't wait to see the Denami booth in September, when I'll be making a trek down to Las Vegas for the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo. I've never been, but it coincides with a trip I was making down there anyway, so I figured what the heck! Anyone been? What'd you think?

The cat is by Denami Design, the sentiment is by the Cat's Pajamas, the patterned paper and card base are by Memory Box and the ribbon is by American Crafts.

Have a great day!

It's A Jungle Party!

Good morning!

As promised, here's another card using Jen del Muro's SFYTT.

Today's card came about as a result of trying to use up my scraps. I've generously been given a coffee table with shallow drawers to keep all of my stamping stuff in while I'm watching TV and hanging out in the living room. The problem is, I am already starting to overfill the drawers with paper scraps! Sometimes I have imperfectly colored images, duplicates, or just things in colors that don't go with the card I'm working on.

So, I'm (again!) resolving to try and make something out of those scraps immediately, or just give up and throw them away. I'm such a hoarder. (sigh)














The main panel on this card was a leftover piece that I had lying around. The giraffe was already stamped on it, but I thought it would be fun to add the grass around him. Then I thought, "Why not a birthday giraffe?" and this card was born.

The card base was another scrap that I had lying around, and the patterned paper is by Making Memories. The hat and the grass is by A Muse, the giraffe is part of a clear set by Hero Arts, and the sentiment is by Denami Designs.

See you tomorrow!

Thanks Berry Much!

Good morning, and happy hump day! I'm loving this short week, which is being made even shorter by an off Friday. Woohoo for that!

Anyway, here is one of the cards I had been working on this weekend and finally got a chance to finish. It's based on Tracy's Sketchy Thursday sketch. I haven't played in forever, and I just had to get back into it, especially because yesterday was her blogoversary. Congrats on another great year of blogging Tracy!

Here's the sketch:



















And here's my card (I turned the sketch on its side):


















Isn't this paper adorable? I remember reading somewhere (Update: It was Jennifer McGuire that loved it too! You can read about it here.) that Doodlebug's new line was really cute, but it wasn't until I got to my LSS that I actually got to see and fall in love with it myself! Here's the paper I used today, but I also got this one and this one and this one. Yum!

The letter stamps are by A Muse and stamped with green Colorbox chalk ink. I hand-lettered the rest of the sentiment with a Creative Memories black pen. For some reason, I always like the way handwritten lettering looks on other people's cards, but I never quite like the way it turns out on mine. I dotted the scallops I made using my SU! scallop punch (love that punch!) with a white gel Signo pen. The strawberry is by Stampendous and colored with Copics.

Well, I'm off. Work is throwing me some big projects this week, and I'm busy at home with the puppy, so I'd better get working or I'll have no time left for stamping!

Bird-Brained?

Oh, I can't stop playing with this Denami stamp! It's like I have birds on the brain! For the full-size card, I used a patterned card by KI Memories, which I think is perfect for a guy card. I colored all of the hats, presents and balloons to match the card. The ribbon is Palm Grosgrain Stitch by A Muse.

Then, I though it would be fun to mask off just a few of the chickies to make a gift enclosure. As you can probably tell, these three are all the way on the right of the image. The patterned paper is by Memory Box I think (packaged by Paper Garden), and the ribbon is Popsicle Pink Sheer by A Muse.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the day. DH and I are both off and the weather's nice, so I think we'll head outside and find some trouble. Happy Hump Day!

Chickie Fun!

Hello, and happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? Doesn't it feel like every nice weekend goes at twice the speed of the regular ones? How frustrating!

Anyway, I did get to make one card that I'm totally in love with. Last weekend, I went up to Sacramento to the Original Rubber Stamp Convention at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center. There were a bunch of great booths, including The Cat's Pajamas, Hanko Designs, and Stamp on Over. And, one of my long-lost favorite stamp companies was there: Denami Design! They have some of the cutest stamps and images I've ever seen, but I'm always hesitant to order them online, so of course I fell hard for their stamps in person.

Here's the first stamp I knew I had to get:














Aren't they just darling? My mind is just reeling with different ideas for this stamp! Plus, this card qualifies for Tracy's blogoversary challenge! (You can read more about it HERE.) Anyway, tomorrow I'll have two ways to use another new purchase. (Did I mention I had fun shopping at the show?!)

See you then!