My first chunk of rubber....

See that lovely little dragonfly? Yup, I drew it myself, and then Unity Stamp Co. put it in rubber!! Its part of their August Kit, and now that I have it in my hands, I absolutely love it!! It turned out much better than I could have hoped for.

Oh and those awesome patterned papers, those are cosmo cricket Early Bird, got those from Hope Stamps Eternal. {insert winky face here}

Cupcake Time Again!!

Ahh yes, cupcake inspiration challenge day has arrived!! Woohooo! This week is CIC #17, if you decide to play along with the Hope Stamps Eternal Cupcake Inspiration Challenge this week then please use the tag *CIC17* when uploading to galleries...makes searching easier. {wink}

Just look at the delicious inspiration photo! Mmmmm. I love the bright pops of color too, so summery!
Without anymore delay here is my card. Once again, pulling color from the photo for this one! I am patiently waiting on my order from Hope Stamps Eternal to arrive...which is funny because I just placed the order on Friday night...lol. I have a few more days to wait yet...But I am so stinkin excited for when it gets here, mostly because I ordered up the new Basic Grey Lemonade papers! As well as two sets of the super adorable gamma stamps!!

I have to confess something...I dont like to do cards without layers anymore. And I mean TONS of layers...lol. I usually have at least two layers popped up on dimensional foam, but on this card I totally held back and only popped one layer (and no that little thought bubble doesnt count as a layer...lol)

Look I even took a detail shot for ya this week...I wanted you all to see the tiny bling flower on his apron!! Isnt this the cutest dang thing EVER?! I also used more of the glittery brads on this card too, I am so in love with those!!

Okay I am going to go settle down now and watch some cartoons with the kiddos. Thanks for stopping by!! And please do be inspired by the cupcakes and come back and share your creations with me and the other Hope Stamps Eternal Sweeties! Dont forget to go check out their blogs too!! Here are the links:

Bonnie ~ Carolina ~ Colleen ~ Jessica ~ Michelle ~ Natalie ~ Tammy

take two...

Look familiar?? Well, the more I looked at the last card I posted, the more I really liked it and wanted to do another just like it...lol. I flipped the layout of the card and added the fun picket fence border punch over the top for a little something extra and I am totally digging how it turned out. which reminds me...I gotta stock up on some basic mini brad colors. I wanted a light olive green for the brads on this one but i only had 6, not 8. so I settled for the brushed silver. oh well....lol.

Finally a new card!

well, it's about time eh?? Life has been pure insanity lately, end of the month at work leaves us a bit stressed out and BUSY. I got stuck working both Saturday AND Sunday to get the work out. Here's a comparison...on an average day we are expected to put out between 8-12 "units". Somehow during the big push to get work invoiced before the end of the month I ended up with around 40 units. Yeah that's a few. Then on Saturday my manager and I kinda got our work mixed up so I ended up doing the final work on his as well...which brought my total to 51 units flowing through me by the end of my time on Sunday. That's crazy eh? But I earned Monday off work, and it wont look like a day off on my paycheck since I worked sunday. phew. But I'm wiped out today!

Although not too wiped out to make a card this morning!! I've got several tips for you on the making of this card...so get ready for some reading...lol.


ooooh...ahhhh.....I really enjoy the way this card came together. I find it very relaxing. So here's the deal with this. On the AMR card challenge forum I will be issuing the challenge to go with this card, if you want the details you'll have to jump on over there to play along...

but now for the *tips*!!

Tip #1: No Nestabilities?? No big deal!! For the large shape that my focal image is on, I used my cricut!! it's the "cylinder 1" from the George cartridge, I cut it both on 4" and on 4" plus shadow/blackout. there are so many wonderful cardmaking shapes on the george cartridge, there are two ovals, a circle, squares and rectangles both with pointed corners as well as softened rounded corners! and all of these shapes can nest if you cut them twice, once on shadow set to the same dial size. So in a pinch, dont forget your cricut!!

Tip#2: this is a cricut tip...recently I've started creating a key ring of template shapes for my cricut...i'll photograph it all tomorrow and share that project. BUT, I am cutting all my shapes for cardmaking on plain white cardstock, both regular and shadowed sizes, then labeling them with the shape name and size. This makes it so easy to figure out what size I need to cut for my card, I just hold my stamp up to the pre-cut and labeled shape to see if it will fit!! Like I said, I will put together a detailed post with photos tomorrow to share this with you all, it really has been making life simpler!

Tip#3: Back to the chalking on versamark...there is a video for this technique, see my sidebar video link to see how this is done...So onto the tip, as I was embossing my sentiment I noticed some of my flowers got powder on them...so I dusted all of them. I never realized that even after chalking the versamark it would still hold the powder! SO, here's the tip, to get a "wow" from your chalked images, emboss them with clear detail powder before your ink dries. Just to give you an idea, I didn't emboss for nearly five minutes after chalking my flowers. It stayed wet for quite some time! here's a close up of the embossed flowers:


Hope you all enjoyed todays blog post, it was packed full eh? lol.

oh and the sentiment stamp is from Cloud 9's simple sentiments birthdays set, the flowers are auntumn leaves (rhonna farrer I believe), papers are MME (stripes) and K&C0 wild saffron (dots and lacey teal)

Age is only a Number

Didn't have good lighting for this card, so of course the background is insanely dark...oh well. Who needs to see my messy kitchen anyway? lol. (I tend to photograph my cards on the dining room table these days because my craft area is so messy there's no good place to set the cards up anymore. (oops!)

I'm going to be busy making up a bunch of birthday cards over the next few days, I volunteered to make cards for work and I decided that while I'm at it I may as well make a set to list in my etsy shop or maybe on ebay. Either way, I'm not too confident any of them will sell as it is. Seems like handmade cards aren't on people's priority list these days.

Shabby Chic style antique brad tutorial!!

It's here! It's here! Finally after waiting three long days, my shabby chic brad tutorial is here! So here's the finished card using these brads. They really do lend themselves well to the distressed style in paper crafting. Make sure you click on the image if you want to get a close up view of the brads, they look so neat with the worn edges and slight staining from the ink!


So let's get to it then, shall we? First gather your supplies, you'll need white brads, a brown ink pad, and a nail file. If you are worried about your nails then grab yourself a pair of tweezers to hold the brad while you are distressing it. For the sake of the photos I am using a pair of black cutterbee tweezers because they pinch shut when you release your grip rather than you having to squeeze them during use. very convenient! I also use these for heat embossing to hold my paper with!


Step one, grab your mini brad, here's a close up of my brad before I've started. If you're using tweezers, pinch it as close to the head of the brad as you can for stability.

Next rub it very very gently with your nail file. You only want to scuff the brad you dont want to completely remove all of the white paint. For this photo it took maybe four or five swipes with the file, just make sure you check it frequently until you get the level of distressing that you want.

After getting the desired level of scuffage on your brad, lightly tap it onto a brown ink pad, I've used an inexpensive pigment ink pad here. By the way, I personally always buy the cheapie ink pads for things like inking edges and distressing. I am really hard on my ink pads and they get pretty chewed up from paper corners...

so yeah, after inking the brad wipe off any excess ink with a tissue or your finger. You really only need a hint of ink on your brad for this.

And voila! Instant shabby brad!

If you love this tutorial and want to share your creations with me, I am also going to be publishing this tutorial in the card challenges forum over at the All Moments Remembered Message Board where I host a weekly card challenge. It's super fun over there by the way. I know I talk about it a lot, but that's only because it's like home to me.

More of the same thing...

Oh isn't the skull and cross bananas absolutely hilarious? I dont have much to say right now....so just enjoy the card would ya?

Aargh!

So I totally lifted this card from Susystampalot! She had a phenomenal card posted, and I just had to replicate it...complete with pirates and everything! Oh and I loved it so much I flipped it for a variation of the same card...but I'm saving that for tomorrows' blog fodder...

These cutie changitos are by Stampendous, I actually found this particular set at Michaels if you can believe that one!

Oh and while we're talking about Michaels, I stopped by last night and bought a 12pk of those marvy dye based rubber stamping markers...I only got the single ended ones and now wish i'd gotten the double ended, so I'll make sure the next sets are the doube. So back to my original train of thought here...have you all used these markers? Do you like them? They run $16-$20/set depending on how many nibs you want on each pen, and have 12 to a pack. Give me your thoughts!! I am thinking of collecting them over time (with coupons of course) to tide me over until I get my copic collection filled in. I am hoping to find a local store that sells copics because i dont want to pay shipping on an already expensive marker. So anyway, Marvy Matchables stamping pens...whattaya think of 'em??

Congrats Grad!

Graduation season already?! It went from snowstorms to graduation parties in the blink of an eye over here! Crazy...

So this card is my humble attempt at Graduation...all i had to work with are studio g's small stamps, and my solution for small stamps is usually inchie panels...lol. I've used this similar format on my cupcake card a few weeks ago...but i hopefully changed it up enough to make it new and exciting!

oh and I stamped a sentiment panel for the inside as well on this one. I first stamped the sentiment and let the ink dry for a few minutes. then stamped the yellow star and embossed it in a clear powder to give it a little more detail. i think it turned out super cute....

It's All Good

Another card with a Rubber Romance Diva! I have even been playing with my meager stash of copics again...I really do need more colors, I dont have enough to color a decent image but at the price of these markers - they'll be waiting a while...lol.

Anyway, check out more rubber romance HERE at their etsy shop...i highly recommend them by the way, super quick shipping and very reasonably priced!!

Rubber Romance Martini Card

Hey, as promised, another Rubber Romance card...lol. I've had this gal for a while now and didn't quite know how I wanted to use her...until tonight, when I went to go stamp her and thought "man i could use a drink tonight..." And so could she! LOL! The funky martini stamp is also Rubber Romance (the sentiment is not, i *think* it's SU! but I cant be too sure, it was given to me unmounted so I dont know the manufacturer)

Did I mention that I really want to be on the Rubber Romance DT?? I keep checking their blog for an update...I am hopeful.

Thanks!

Another card using the same papers as yesterday....lol. oh and i used another of my new just rite stamps!! Love it!!

scroll down to the previous post for the link to the etsy shop where you can find the just rite stamper kits, they really are a great price!

you're my cup of tea

So, Happy Mothers Day to all of you mommies out there! No big plans here, hopefully I can get some me time to just chill without kiddos climbing all over me! (we'll see.....lol)

Today's card is a step in a new direction for me, i jazzed up the INSIDE! Crazy aint it?

Some fun new products (for me) for this card too! I found a scrap store that sells DCWV specialty by the sheet papers, they are for the most part identical to the stacks, only they are cardstock, textured and much nicer than the stack paper. The striped paper is, i believe, from that 'going green' or some other name stack that had all the trees and animals in it. super cute stack but i'd never use it all, so i bought only 3 sheets of it.

oh and the round border stamp is from my new just rite stamper kit! I love them!! they are tricky to get used to, and i have the class wood mount not the self inker. But sooooo worth it!! If you want a great link to buy one then CLICK HERE!! (It's the all moments remembered etsy link, if she is sold out then convo her and she could special order you a set at a GREAT price!)

AND the teacup stamp is my new favorite set today, it's a mini hero arts set that i found HERE. This gal is a great etsy seller, and she has AMAZING prices on the stamp sets there!

3 Color Challenge!

Happy Saturday morning all! I'm hosting a 3 color card challenge this week at the All Moments Remembered message board, so hop on over and register and participate!!

The color combo this week is Yellow, Pink and Kraft (those colors can be used in any intensity or hue)

Hey all, been a wicked weird week here. And I've been big time stressing over work and lack o money stuff...so what better solution than drowning myself in paper and stamps eh? hehehe. Oh by the way, I'm totally digging this martha stewart picket fence punch!! I splurged on it at Mikes last week, they let me use a 50% off coupon for the sucker...cuz we all know that it's stupid to pay full price when the coupons are floating around in the bottom of your purse...lol.

so anyway, here's the supply run-down....

Patterned papers are Heidi Grace, ribbon is American Crafts, Martha Stewart border punch, the stamp and bling are hero arts. Oh and the diecut that the sentiment is stamped on is actually from the Cricut George cartridge. I have had it forever and never realized it!

Mother's Day Butterflies

well, i'm officially done with this year's mothers day cards! (then again, i only had to make 2...lol) This card was made using some older supplies and some new stuff, so i felt like i was actually using my supplies rather than buying new supplies for each card...lol. The ribbon slide is a die cut from the 4 piece cuttlebug slide set, Mikes had it on sale 50% off so i had to grab it!! so...in my experimenting i found that the George cricut cartridge makes perfect shapes to fit inside this oval, first off the rectangles 1 and 2 on size 1 1/4" are perfect, and shown above, i used the Oval 1 on size 1 1/2" with the shadow function, and then trimmed off the two sides to accomodate the slide holes. Cute huh? I will be making little packets of these slide shapes and white centers for my etsy shop. i know not everyone has a cricut for the centers or a cuttlebug for the slides, so i thought it would be nice to make some available.

Supplies used:

Cardstock - Bazzill

Patterned paper - Dollhouse line by K&Co

Butterflies - small ornate butterfly stamp by Amy Butler (K&Co), small butterfly with dotted flourish by Cloud 9 from the simple thoughts baby set, polka dot and side view butterfly are Autumn Leaves from one of the "mini" sets.

golden yellow mini brads - lasting impressions

die cut ribbon slide - cuttlebug die

oval center die cut - cricut, george cartridge

mmmm, Cupcakes....

Anyone else LOVING these cupcake studio g's? I know I am!! I was about 3/4's of the way through recording the video of this card in progress and wouldn't ya know it, my camera's memory card hit max and my camera turned off!! GRRR!! So I finished the card and decided to re-do this card layout for a new video later after I am less frustrated...lol. I should have checked the capacity before starting.

So I have a funny confession...I have been listening to the Twilight saga on mp3 while I scrapbook. I know, silly huh? I feel like a goofball listening to these let alone reading them, I mean they're written for teens. Sigh...oh well....I haven't quite decided how well I like them, but they're a nice diversion from the same old music. I'm about 1/2 way through Eclipse right now, but I feel like I am missing parts of the story when my mind wanders or when the kids start talking to me. I may have to grab the actual book when I have the moolah. I devoured the first two books in about 3 days. My eyes were practically bugging out of my head from the reading, serious eye strain...lol

I have a technique video to share!

For a lot of people, the biggest mystery of stamping and card making is figuring out HOW to color their images! Well, over the next several weeks I am going to be exploring different coloring mediums and sharing techniques over on All Moments Remembered. The first technique I am sharing is coloring with prismacolor pencils and blending with odorless paint thinner (mineral spirits). Here's a close up of the finished image as well as the finished card. Followed up by the tutorial video for working with this medium.

And without further delay, the video!! Leave comments and questions and I'll do my best to answer them for you all!

If you are having trouble viewing the youtube video, I have also uploaded it to vimeo. HERE's the Link!

New G's in the house!!

Happy Saturday indeed!! I begged and pleaded for someone to help me find this cute "some bunny {hearts} you" stamp set by Studio G, and wouldn't ya know it, someone did!! Thanks Shelle!!

I love that it's an easter set without being overly eastery, I can use it all year long if I so desire...lol. I could EASILY mask off that flower in her hand and stamp a candy cane instead and use it for christmas...or put a clover in her hand for St. Patricks Day... Seriously, CUTE stamps! And I could not wait to ink them up!!

Dont forget this weeks' card challenge!!

Hey kids, dont forget about the weekly card challenges that I have the priviledge of hosting over at All Moments Remembered and it would really make my day if you all would hop on over and check it out! Stacey has done a wonderful job expanding the message board fun to include so many wonderful challenge teams and events, there really is something for everyone over there.

So anyway, this card is one of the samples for the current challenge, wanna know what the challenge is? Well too bad, I'm not telling...you have to go HERE to see! Bwahahaha.