Fan-tastic!

Hi all! A while back, Gina K held a secret swap. The cool thing was, all you needed to do was just swap one card - that was it. You had no idea who would be giving you a card... until it arrived in the mail! Well, this was the card I made for my secret swapper. It was using Rupa Shevde's set Many Happy Returns from Gina K. Designs. I think the set is just too fun!

To make the card, I used the Abstract set from Spellbinders, and then I paper pieced the fan so that my "fan blades" were silver. I cut the fan out and then added a silver hot fix nail head in the center. Layer it on some metallic patterned paper and a piece of paper that I ran through my Wizard with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, add a tag, some ribbon and you are done! The tag is actually just a 1-1/4" circle punch that I punched a smaller hole at the top. Nothing to it!

This next week brings lots of excitement over here at my place! What's coming up? Only three new sets being released by Flourishes, three new colors of Shimmerz Paints perfect for fall, a new Friday Stamp Simply Challenge and who could forget - every 15th of the month you'll find a brand new Y.ou K.now Y.ou R.ock challenge to get those creative juices flowing! So, stick around for a busy and fun week! Sneak peaks for Flourishes start tomorrow!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

PCG NEWS!

Well, the votes have been tallied and the winner is in and it is...... NOT ME! Sorry, I couldn't resist! The PCG Idol is Nancy Cienfuegos. I guess you can call the rest of us runner ups! :-) If you've been watching the competition, you know Nancy did amazing work! She has such a clean creative style. I can see why people chose her! So CONGRATS to her! You might wonder if deep down inside I am bummed. Not really. I gave it my all and I actually learned through all your comments that I have a lot more blog friends than I ever imagined. {{{{{Did you feel that big hug?}}}}} I am really blessed. I've won something far greater than a contest! I get to "keep" all of you! :-)

Thanks for everything guys!!

Stamp Simply-- Something Old!

TGIF everyone! Today's challenge for ssnotime47 was to feature something old. It could be an old stamp, a vintange look - or in my case an old card!!! You can click HERE for the official details. Ok, this is a big cheat. But no worries, I had Miss Sharon Johnson's blessing! Hi Sharon (waving!) This is the card that I submitted to Paper Crafts in the open auditions for Paper Crafts Gallery Idol. This is where it all began. I know some of you HAVE to be sick of hearing about it. I am so sorry! BUT, today is the last day. Today is when they spill the beans on who won! I have to say, I have never devoted 6 weeks to a contest like this-- ever! And, I never in a million years did I think I would make it to the top 5. It's been surreal.

The card uses one of my favorite sets of all time from Impression Obsession. It's called Build-A-Tree and you can literally build a tree for all seasons with apples, flowers, leaves and more! It even has a couple of birds in the set. I also used the Journaling I set (way cool set) for the "label" that I stamped the sentiment on. There's really nothing to this card. I stamped the different pieces of the tree using Vivid inks - Vivid Brown, and Vivid Olive. The label was stamped with Storm Blue Vivid and the saying was also stamped in brown as well. Use the slot punch to create a hole, add some ivory satin ribbon and a pearl embellishment for some soft bling - and that is it! The paper I stamped on is actually decorative paper that I bought at the dollar store!

For more inspiration.... check out:

Jennifer

Dee

Janine

Well, we are supposed to hear the news by mid morning. So, I'll be sure to blast it here. You might wonder - why would you blast it if you didn't win? Knowing how much energy it took to compete, I give all these girls a huge standing ovation. They all rock in my book. They have been so fun to work with. I laughed with some of them that we should get a box of Depends and sit by the computer to wait for the announcment. Lizzie Jones said she might opt for a box of chocolates. It's just been that kind of comradery -- which I think is cool.

So, happy Friday you all! Enjoy today!

Mixing it up!!

You know that girl that always wore florals with plaid? The one that threw fashion caution to the wind? Well, when I made this card - I was that girl! I mixed it up all over the place! This was actually a card I made for one of the rounds for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest -- but for some reason, it wasn't my favorite. Santa won out!

The stamp is the Bleeding Heart stamp from the Spring Ephemerals set by Flourishes. The saying stamp is one of the first stamps I ever bought! It is from PSX - you know the company we love that is no longer in business! I colored the flowers with ink pads by just thumping the color on. After I cut out the frame with my Nesties, I sponged some light green ink inside the "frame." How did I do this? I left my Nestie on my oval shape and used it as a bit of a mask! Add a scalloped layer, some patterned paper, some rhinestones and you are done! I love this paper by Scenic Route! Too vibrant and pretty in my book!

Well folks... voting ends today at noon (MST) for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol. Deep breath, deep breath. If you haven't voted yet -- would you please check out my card and vote for me if you like it?? Thanks a ton!! HERE is the link! This one is for the whole she-bang! The winner will be announced around noon Mountain Standard Time Friday!! I am trying not to think about it! :-)

Hope you had a fabulous week so far! I'll be back tomorrow for Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge! See you then!

Getting inspiration from the mail!

You know those days when you need a little jump start to get the creative juices flowing? Well, I was thinking about the card I was going to make today... thinking... and thinking. After thinking too hard, I decided to take a break and go run to the mail box when I reached in, got my mail and found my inspiration! My Pottery Barn catalog arrived and my eye went straight to this pillow. I loved the colors, the patterns and I even had the perfect stamp set!

I picked up my Floral Fantasy set from Flourishes. This set had the same feel. You know what else was in my mail box? A whole bunch of goodies from Shimmerz Paints! These paints are so sparkly. They are acrylic - so they can be painted on porous AND non- porous surfaces! And, the colors they come in are just fab. It's hard to see it in photos - but the shimmer is like a glitter gel pen only you can paint it on!

I stamped my floral images in Versamark ink, embossed with black embossing powder. and then started to paint! I only used four colors: Royal Red, Marigold, Celery and Key Lime. You can see that some of the colors actually mesh together. I just did that by adding the darker color while the lighter color was still wet.

Here's a close up...
I added a sewn edge, the word "Friend,"which is also in the Floral Fantasy set, added a loopy brad with some lucious black sheer ribbon and I was done!

Some of the other Flourish DT members inked up their Floral Fantasy sets too... You'll have to check out their creativity!

Faith

Leslie

Susan

p.s. The Rock The Cover challenge at Deb and I's challenge blog -Y.OU K.NOW Y.OU R.OCK- is in voting phase! You have to check out the fab cards these ladies created! The mission was to make a card inspired by a CD cover. Click HERE to check out the entries and cast your vote! Voting ends August 14th at midnight!

A card remixed

Way back when, I made a card really similar to this one only with a different color scheme. Well, I was digging through papers and found this fun leaf skeleton paper and thought I would try to recreate it! I swear, I have had this paper for ages! Chris-- if you are reading this -- this paper is so old -- it came from your store! How long have you been out of the role of scrapbook store owner now? Oh my!

To make the card, I sponged on some olive vivid ink onto the strip of paper and attached it to my patterned paper by sewing the two together using some gold thread. This thread rocks -- it really, really "pops" IRL! Antique a piece of kraft paper and stamp on the saying in brown ink and fern in olive green, mat it on some gold Stardream, add some hodgepodge hardware and a metallic olive piece of ribbon and you are pretty much done! It really is a ten minute card. I love the long and lean look! I wish I was (long and lean that is)!!

Before I go, I have a shout out that I want to give to Kate Skiff! She gave me a Brillante Weblog award! Thanks Katie! You rock! And you live in a great part of the world -- of course, I am biased! :-)

Well, Sunday will be full of creating. I have until tomorrow morning to come up with a silhouette card for the FINAL ROUND of the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest! What's funny is, this card has been swimming in my head for 2 days now but I just can't bring myself to make it yet -- what's up with that?

Hope you have a great rest of the weekend! See you tomorrow with more on the contest -- you guys have been so great to get me this far -- wouldn't it be great if we ran together to the finish line!?!? oooOOOoo! That would be unreal!

Stamp Simply -- Mostly White

TGIF! Friday means it's time to Stamp Simply (ssnotime46)! This week's challenge is to create a white on white look with a touch of pastel. If you want the official details... click HERE to travel over to Sharon's blog!

I have a confession to make about this card. It's pretty bad. Since us SS gals post the night before the challenge, it was about 7:30 PM and I hadn't even thought about what I wanted to do for the challenge. I had, but nothing really came to me. Since I have been working a lot, I didn't want to spend the night stamping instead of hanging with my hubby. So, when he said he had to run to the store, I told him I had to get some things done around the house and it might be quicker if he just went on his own. So, I dreamt this card up, made it and photographed it in the time it took him to go to Walmart! Man, am I bad or what? It was less than a half hour. Talk about speed stamping!
Since the challenge was white on white, I knew I wanted to bring some texture to my card with a CB embossing folder. I cut a piece of white 3" by 4-1/4" and that was the lower part of my card. I used a strip of paper pierced pearl paper to break up the top part of the white and the embossed part. On the upper level, I stamped a bunch of tulips from the Stamp Simply Thank You set from Flourishes. I embossed them in white and then colored them in using a Q-tip and chalks. Add some sheer and sheer polka dot pink ribbon, add a pearl to make the ribbon pop-- and you're done!

Need some extra inspiration? Be sure to check out the rest of the Stamp Simply team! Can't wait to see what you cook up!

Janine Jennifer Tammy Dee Becky

I MADE IT! I MADE IT!!!!!

Ok, put down everything in your hands! Do you have comfy shoes on? If not, ditch the shoes. Now jump up and down with me! Wow... isn't this fun!!! Why are we jumping?? OH! I should tell you! I made it to the top 5 of the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol competition!!! YIIIIIIPPPPEEE! I am seriously in disbelief. WOW!!!!! Pinch me. Wait, if you're still jumping, don't pinch me yet. Ok, now you can pinch me!!!

Thank you so much for being my cheerleaders, I've felt your "go get 'em" comments and I even felt a few {hugs!} So, thanks guys! YOU ROCK! So, my next challenge is to create a card with a silhouette by Monday at nine mountain standard! I'll fill you in on Monday on how to get to the gallery!

Whew. That felt good. Thanks for sharing this moment with me! ;-)

No cards to share today!

Well folks-- nothing to share today! I have been so busy entertaining kids and working - no time to stamp this week! I did want to say - the voting for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol closes today at noon. If you haven't voted and want to check my card out - I would be grateful! This is the semi-finals so to speak so I am crossing everything I have that I make it!!!

You can check out the link HERE and, just like here, I am "outtoimpress!"

Thanks! I'll be back tomorrow with Sharon's fabulous Stamp Simply challenge!!
See you then!



EDITED TO ADD: Head on over to my mom's site click HERE she's giving away some pretty cool blog candy. You won't want to miss it!!! She's giving away the "Rejoice" Christmas set from Flourishes, some paper, ribbon and monoadhesive plus anything else she decides to throw in!

Christmas in July Sale-- ending soon!

Hi all! Just a note that tomorrow is the last day of the Christmas in July sale over at Flourishes! All of their Christmas sets are discounted. No codes needed, the prices are already adjusted!

Well, to get in the Christmas spirit early, I decided to do an "inspired by" card! I went to an event recently and in the goodie bag was this little tin of mints. I loved the flourish, the silver and black contrast and the pop of another color. Here's a look at the tin....

And, here's a look at the card it inspired! I used the Damask backgrounder from Flourishes. This is my favorite stamp. When you need a quick and elegant background, this stamp is your "go to" stamp! I embossed it with silver embossing powder on black. I also embossed the reindeer as well. This guy is from the Flourished Christmas Set. I added some red satin ribbon, layered up the pieces, added a rhinestone to the nose, colored in the reindeer's eye and added a white "sparkle" in the eye with my Inksentials white pen and I was done! Super duper easy!

Some of the other DT members have a bit of Christmas inspiration on their blogs today too! Check out Faith, Leslie, Susan, Sharon D. and Linda!

Happy Wednesday everyone!!

Fall Leaves

I know it must seem a bit harsh to think about fall leaves now. I mean, are you ready for that at all? Not me! Seems like the summer just got started! This leaf stamp and saying is one of the newly released stamps from Impression Obsession! I love the swirls in the image and the solid stamp makes coloring the changing leaf fun! I just thumped a few different ink colors on each leaf to bring out different shades ! Then, when I put my card together, I went from light to dark to make it look like the progression of color.

Here's a close up!

Putting the card together was a piece of cake. I used my Nesties for the circles, my ticket corner punch for the corners on my piece of patterned paper cut out my leaves, added the saying - "To Everything There Is A Season..."and done! The embellies in the punched corners are hot fix nail heads (Kandi Kane)

Speaking of Impression Obsession, they have a brand new Guest Designer opportunity! Here are the details!

IMPRESSION OBSESSION GUEST DESIGNER CALL

How would you like to be a guest designer for one of the nation's largest rubber stamp companies? Impression Obsession is looking someone to put a creative spin on the great rubber and clear stamps that you know and love. We have more than 2,000 images in production at any given time and these images can be found at hundreds of stamp stores not only in the U.S. andCanada but six other countries worldwide!The guest designer position would be a three month commitment to help us with samples not only for our supplements and trade show displays but for our web gallery as well. Our store owners rely on the design team's creativity to seejust how many ways you can use I.O. stamps! If accepted, you will receive a handful of I.O. new releases to play with and create!

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Since our Senior Design Team uploads digital images to our gallery, we would hope you would be proficient in photo editing and be able to display your cards in an eye-pleasing way. Ninety-nine percent of the time, we use the artists images for our catalog and web gallery.

2. You would be required to make a minimum of 4 projects per month and display them on your gallery or blog giving credit to Impression Obsession.

3. Impression Obsession would have access to these designs for use on our web site, in our online gallery, for advertising, and in our electronic newsletter. We'll be sure to give you credit!

TO APPLY

Please send four examples of your best work to us at ioguestdesigner@gmail.com by August 30th. Don't forget to include a little bit about yourself, your name, address, phone number, email address, past design team work,when and where you've been published and blog or gallery address as well. Please note: Past work is not a requirement for a position with I.O. We are simply looking for talented designers. If you've never been on a team before or have never been published - that's Ok!.

Thanks for stopping by!!

p.s. Voting for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest is still underway until Thursday at Noon MST. If you haven't voted! I'd love it if you checked out my card! I'm "outtoimpress" on the gallery! Click HERE to see all the cards. That page also has instructions on how to cast your vote!! Thanks guys!

Quotables.....

Well folks, the voting is up for the PC Gallery Idol contest and the entries are nothing short of amazing. Seriously. Everyone did a bang up job!! Everyone got really creative with color and shape!

The challenge was to use a quote on your card. Thanks to Viv Peters, I was able to use Santa and a holiday quote as my focal point! She sent me some lovely Cotton Scraps from Crafty Secrets a few weeks back!

This was MY card! I used the Santa in the Cotton Scraps and trimmed him down to eliminate the saying. I kind of weaved around when I sewed around the edge to give it a little interest and then I started to unravel the edges. Add some pearls in the corner, add a saying and distress the edges, add a loopy brad with satin ivory ribbon and a pearl and you're almost done! The strip of paper that separates the two patterned paper pieces on my card was sewn on as well. DONE!
Here's a close up of the Santa and saying! The saying is from Impression Obsession!
Hope you enjoy! If you want to vote.... click HERE and in the fourth paragraph at the top there is a link to the ballot. After you check the circle and hit done--- You're done! I am "Out To Impress" on the ballot!

Thanks for the votes and support! You guys rock!

A Sketch Challenge For YOU!

Just wanted to give you all a heads up! I have a fun challenge going in the Gina K. Forum! Want to speed stamp? All you need to do is use my sketch and make a creation by tomorrow Monday, July 28th at noon central time. The challenge is super duper easy! The fun thing about this challenge is -- the winner is chosen out of a hat! It's kind of like a stamping lottery! If you win, you walk away with a Gina K Designs set valued at 18.95 or or less!

Here's my creation.... It's made with the new 1 Free with 3 set from Gina K. Designs. You order three sets and you get this one free!


Here's a close up of the card! I just colored the cherries with watercolor pencils and added some pizazz with some Crystal Lacquer on the cherries to make them pop! Can't really see all that well. Trust me, it's kind of cool IRL! And here's the "official" sketch!! :-)

Once you're done, simply upload to SCS using the keyword: JULYGKDJK

Happy Sunday! Off to enjoy some family time!

News, BFFs And A Tag!

YIPPEE SKIPPY! I just got the news yesterday that I made it to the top ten of the Papercrafts Gallery Idol contest! Can't honestly believe it. I am super excited though. The next challenge is to make a card with a quote as its focus. So, I thought - "I don't really have any quotes!" What am I going to do? So, I say - I'll just go down and check to see if I have even one quote stamp. I have 13. Can you believe a girl doesn't even really know what she has??!?? I told my younger brother about the challenge and you know what he said? "I got one for you - you could quote Winston Churchill." I said, "What's the quote?" "I may be drunk, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly." HAHAHAHAHA! I still haven't checked to see if Winston Churchill actually said that. Brothers. I tell ya! Anyway, the cards will be up Monday so check back then about links and how to vote!! Thanks to all of you who have supported me!! YOU ROCK!


I got a fun award this week that I plan to pass on!! Paylin passed this on! How fun! I'm honored!! BTW, you should check out Paylin's site. She is amazingly talented when it comes to using punches creatively! Back to the award--- I hand this on to Deb, Diane, Jennifer, Barb, Janine, and MOM! And....Renee tagged me! I have to find 7 things to share that you might not know. Well I have had this tag before so finding something new might be really, really tough! But, I'll try! Meantime, I'll try not to bore you! Some of these my be repetitive because let's face it -- my life is only so interesting! LOL!

1. One of my "trips of a lifetime" was to L.A. to see the Grammy Awards. I was on the red carpet reporting for the CBS affiliate that I worked for at the time. Blue man group crashed my liveshot and made freaky faces at me!
2. My dad was an amateur race car driver -- thus my love for fast cars. It's genetic. It has to be!
3. I have a '77 Corvette that is a work in progress.
4. I'm afraid of heights.
5. My favorite color is red.
6. I could eat pizza every day of the week - veggie, barbeque chicken, regular - any flavor - just love it!
7. I've never traveled outside of North America.

I'm supposed to tag 7 people but why don't we just do this -- Wanna play? Just leave me a comment! I'd love to read your answers!

Ok... well now that your officially asleep from all that - hope you have a great Saturday! I'll be back tomorrow!

Stamp Simply -- Christmas In July!!

Hi all! Time for a frosty Friday Stamp Simply Challenge!! The temperature may say summer, but this challenge is all about Christmas! It's never too early to start those Christmas cards -- is it!?! You can check out Sharon's blog for all the official details!

My card really couldn't get any "simpler!" The snowman, snowflake and saying are all brand new just released at CHA stamps from Impression Obsession. Aren't they cute? I stamped them on white, colored the snowman and then used a 1-1/4" circle punch to punch them out. I used my Spellbinders circle Nestabilities to make the larger circle out of silver paper. I matted them up, added some bling to the snowflakes and was done with that part! I corner rounded two edges of my distressed blue strip and matted it on a piece of silver that also had some rounded corners. I used my slot punch (SU!) to create the slit for my sheer blue ribbon and silver embroidery thread. Tie the ribbon in a knot, add a sentiment in black ink and done! This could easily be a ten minute card!

Here's a close up to show how cute that little snow guy is! I am a sucker for snow men!!!

Want to see the other new IO stamps fresh for the taking?!?! Click HERE! Meantime, if you want a little more inspiration for this week's challenge-- check out:

Janine, Jennifer, Dee, and Tammy!

Happy Friday You All!!

Christmas In July!

What a better time to get ready for holiday stamping than when you have all the time in the world and it's 90 degrees out! I actually try to stamp most of my cards in the summer. When school hits - life becomes chaotic and it only gets harder to find the time to stamp cards for Christmas. Do you KWIM?

The good news--- I have the details on a great sale! Flourishes is celebrating Christmas in July! What does that mean for you-- 15% off all Christmas sets -- no codes needed! The sale price will automatically ring up when you place your order! The sale will run from Wed the 23rd through Wed the 31st.

To give you a little inspiration, the Flourishes DT all made Christmas cards to get those creative juices flowing. Mine is super duper easy! I used the set Rejoice.

I simply stamped the angel on a piece of steel blue card stock using Versamark ink. Then, using a soft brush, I brushed on some Pure Mica pearl powder. I love the sheen it gives - especially when the light hits it! You can barely see it, but this set comes with a square that has stars in it. I stamped that all over my base card using Denim blue Adirondack ink. The sentiment, "Alleluia," is also stamped in Denim ink. I matted my angel piece on silver cardstock. Add some Steele blue sheer ribbon and a smidge of silver embroidery thread and that's it! This is a super easy one to mass produce if you wanted to! I think it's going to be my card for 2008!

Here's a close up of the angel so you can see the shimmer! TIP: After you brush on the mica powder, take a Swiffer dry cloth or duster and rub it over your image. This "burnishes" the powder into the Versamark ink and gets rid of the extra powder. Keep in mind - you WILL be covered in sparkle regardless!! LOL!

For more Christmas card ideas, check out:

Leslie, Linda, Faith, and Sharon

Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow!

p.s. PC Gallery Idol contest ends Thursday at noon! If you haven't voted -- I'd love your vote!
Click HERE to vote for my card (I'm Out To Impress). Click HERE to see the gallery. Hope you like the card I made!

The Count Down Is On!

This Thursday- Gina K and her talented team of illustrators will unveil a handful of new sets perfect for summer stamping! Since the count down is on.... that means it's time for a bunch of sneak peaks!!

I was honored to be able to use this first set that Gina is giving you all a peak at. It's Asela Hopkin's new set called Flowers for Daisy. The wonderful thing about this set is not just the beautiful images, thoughtful sayings and Bible verses but the fact that for a limited time, a portion of the sales of this set will be donated to the American Cancer Society in honor of Asela's friend Daisy who is fighting a courageous battle with cancer. Doesn't that make dipping into your stamping budget a whole lot easier?

Since I wanted the daisy to pop, I wanted to make sure my overall card layout was really pretty simple. So, I added a scallop border, edged it with some darker green paper, added some 3/4" green grosgrain ribbon, stamped my saying and that part was done. I stamped the daisy on a 2-1/2 by 3" piece of white cardstock, used my ticket corner punch on two corners and then started to color. I edged only one side of my daisy with a very light blue Tombow marker. I used three shades of yellow Prismacolor pencils for the center of my daisy and then accented some of the petals with a slate blue. Since this was a bit dark at first, I went back over the petals with a white pencil to help blend the color and make it look more like subtle shading.

Here's a close up...
I matted my daisy piece onto a dark green cardstock piece, added two glazed brads (Basic Grey) and voila.... done!

Be sure to check out Gina's blog for all the release party details PLUS a sneak of her own! If you want to check out what some of the other DT members did check out:

Michelle Joanne Emily Asela

Thanks for stopping by! See you back here Wednesday! Hope you have a little Christmas spirit in you! :-)

p.s. Voting is still going on until Thursday at noon for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol Contest! Click HERE to vote for my card. Click HERE to see the gallery. Hope you like the card I made!

Seeing Red!

Well folks, the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol is now officially in round two and the challenge this week was to make a monochromatic card! So... as the title suggests-- I am seeing red! I have red dp, red rhinestones, red ribbon, a red floral acetate overlay, a red rhinestone ribbon slide and red ink! The only stamping done on my card was the frame that is part of an Impresison Obsession Journaling I set and the word which is a part of the Word Frames clear set.

I admit, this card is a little out of my zone. Not my typical card but after fiddling and futzing, I decided to go with it! Hope you like!

Click HERE to see my card.

Click HERE to see the gallery

To vote, scoll down below my card and where it says Description- it says click here to vote for your favorite. Click on that link and a ballot should pop up with all the names of those in the top 15. I'm Out To Impress! Click on the dot next to the name - hit done and you've voted! Thanks so much for your support! It means the world to me!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Wish me luck! Voting ends Thursday at noon Mountain Standard Time!!!

New Stamps From Impression Obsession!

Hi all! Happy Sunday! With CHA just winding down, I've been given the OK to share some of the brand spankin' new images from Impression Obsession! So... today... let the fun begin! FYI, these images will be on the I.O. site soon and in retail stores that carry I.O. sometime in August!
This card is one made from the new fall stamps designed by Leigh Hannan. Carmel apples? Soo cute! This card was kind of tedious but you know me, I love to paper piece!! So, all of the elements are paper pieced. The carmel, the chocolate, the sticks, the candy corn. Everything. I had a blast doing it and I love the vibrant color now that the card is done! This one was actually on display at CHA. Wish my card could talk and tell me about all the fun!! LOL! The sparkle you see is from my Copic Spica pens and the rhinestones are those teeny tiny 2mm rhinestones!

Here's a close up! I love that little saying that goes with this stamp!

Now... to more fun news!!! I made the cut for the top 15 for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest!! YIPPEE SKIPPY!!!! I seriously am off the charts excited and now am fine-tuning the card for tomorrow's gallery - the challenge was "monochromatic." Hhhhhhhm. That wasn't all that easy for me. My card is a little different than my typical style - so I hope you check it out and like it!

I'll post all the details here tomorrow at noon Mountain Standard Time when the voting starts!!

Well, my friends--- that's all she wrote! I'll see you back here tomorrow!

Stamp Simply 44-- Purple and Flowers

Hi All! Gosh, where did this week go? Seriously? Can it be the weekend already? Not that I am complaining - don't get me wrong. It just felt like this week whipped by at lightning speed!

With each and every Friday comes a brand new Stamp Simply challenge courtesy of the lovely Sharon Johnson! This week, the challenge is purple and flowers. BUT, your flowers don't have to be purple - you just have to have the color purple on your card with flowers! You can check out the details at Sharon's blog-- HERE! She is actually lucky enough to be at CHA right now - but she's still on top of it all!
My card is actually a card you could make in 10- minutes if you had to. All I did was cut out some 1-1/2" squares and then layered them onto squares I cut out with my scalloped square Nestabilities die (the one that is slightly smaller than a 2" square). I inked up the checkered lily from the Spring Ephemerals set from Flourishes and made sure to get different parts of the flower on each square. I used Sweet Plum and Bamboo Leaves Momento inks and I added some darker green accents with a dark green Tombow marker on the leaves. The paper is Basic Grey Euphoria and the ribbon is a lavender sheer. The saying, "smile," is from the Floral Fantasy set - also from Flourishes! After I matted all the pieces, I added some small self adhesive pearls just to give it a little more pop! This card base is actually from a set I bought from Hero Arts - the card measures 6 by 3 and comes with envelopes that remind me of the kind you get at the bank with the side flap. It's a pretty fun size to work with !

If you want more inspiration - check out what some of the other gals from the Stamp Simply team did! Dee bowed out this week because that lucky duck is at CHA!

Janine
Jennifer
Tammy

Have a fabulous weekend! Stop by again soon!