Baby, its cold outside

I've had zero motivation, mojo and whatever else you can name. But when I saw this week's ATS Wednesday song inspired challenge (even before I saw Traci's awesome card) the Baby its cold outside immediately popped into my head. Glee's Kurt and Blaine version of course. Wasnt that just the cutest thing?

I got out my Cocoa Emma and colored her up in copics. Her boots reminded me of Uggs, which N has a new obsession for, so I tried coloring it in the like. I added some liquid applique to the whites of her outfit and topped it off with glitter before I heated it.

Merry Christmas!

The Dets:

Stamps: CC Designs Cocoa Emma

Paper: MB notecards, Cosmo Cricket mitten weather, kraft

Ink: Memento, Copics, multiliner

Accessories: PTI aqua mist button, PTI pure poppy ribbon, MFT scallops, oval nesties, snowflake embossing folder

Tiny Treats

It's been a while. I dont think I've taken a blog hiatus like that in a super long time. But what with the icky-sickness and the holidays, I suppose those are decent excuses.

I finally had some time to play with my things. Sadly, my uninked stamp list is steadily creeping back up. Curse those "too good to pass up" after-Thanksgiving sales.

But I broke out my newly acquired PTI Tiny Treats Christmas and made a simple christmas card. I decided to go w/ my current favorite holiday color combo, red & aqua. I stamped the snowman and colored him w/ copics. Then mounted him on a scalloped circle and matstack #1 die.


Hopefully I can get back to my regular crafting and posting routine. I'm so behind on my xmas cards and there's so many different project ideas I have going on now. All I want for christmas is more time....well obviously I want sparkly, material gifts too but that's a given.

The Dets:
Stamps: PTI Tiny Treats Christmas
Paper: MB notecard, PTI pure poppy, October Afternoon very merry
Ink: Memento black, PTI aqua mist, Copics
Accessories: scalloped circle punch, PTI matstack #1, ribbon

New Banner

Since we're headed towards another holiday season, I thought it'd be nice to create a new banner. (Actually my mom asked me to make her one last year...) And apparently I have a thing for the word "Noel." But what can I say, Joy is too short and Merry is too long. Actually I wanted it to say "Tis the season, yo" my fave holiday line, but that was way too long.

I used my big scallop rectangle nesties for the letters mat and topped it off w/ a border end cut from labels eight. I cut the letters from glitter paper w/ my Storybook cartridge. Then I embellished with buttons, jewels and a couple vintage ornaments. This color combination is my current favorite and I've been doing tons of holiday stuff in variations of it. But I'm a creature of habit...

Detail shot of the letters - The Dets:

Stamps: PTI Signature Christmas

Paper: Cream cs, MB dot pattern paper, PTI kraft, DCWV latte matstack

Ink: Brilliance graphite black

Accessories: Cricut storybook cartridge, spellbinders labels eight & big scalloped rectangles, PTI aqua mist & berry sorbet buttons, jewels, PTI vintage ornaments die, divine twine & TCP linen thread

Altered Notebook

Long time no post. But I've been feeling under the weather and too tired to stamp (shocking I know). However, I'm on the path to recovery (hehe such a drama queen) and had a request from my mom for altered composition books.

I've seen the mini ones, in fact N altered me one a while back. But I've never done a full size one. I had this paper from my stash for a while now. Its superly awesome b/c the flowers are like letterpress into the paper. I've had intentions of making a stationary set with it, but never got around to it.

My mom wanted these to give to her knitting friends to hold pictures or...something for their projects. I played around w/ a few sentiments but liked the simple word of "ideas" the best. I added flourishes to each side with PTI's Simply Stationary set.

I pulled out a sheet of berry sorbet for the spine, but thought it looked a little too plain. So I stamped it with Text Style Background and Turning a New Leaf.

Detail shot -

The Dets:
Stamps: PTI Turning a New Leaf, Text Style Backgrounds, Fresh Alphie, Simply Stationary, MFT Framed Greetings
Paper: PTI berry sorbet, Stardream bronze, EK Success aurora flora
Ink: Brilliance pearlescent chocolate, Versamark, Versacolor old rose
Accessories: MFT die, MS border punch, ribbon, scalloped circle

Purely Sketchy

I was crazy productive this weekend. Cards wise, not housework wise. Aren't those just the best? But I suppose something productive had to come from watching cartoons for two days straight. And I needed to check some crafty t0-do things off the list before T-day rolls around.

One of the cards I did was with my new Pure Innocence Presents for You stamp set. I've got about seven birthdays (mostly family) within a week of each other this month, so I desperately needed to get cracking. I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC91, for the layout. Colored up the girl (anyone know her name?) in copics and paper pieced her pressies. Of course I had to use my new Pixie-licious paper as this is a birthday card and not really an xmas one.

The Dets:
Stamps: MFT Presents for You, PTI Vintage Ornaments Additions
Paper: MB key lime notecard, Cosmo Cricket pixie-licious
Ink: Memento black & pear sprout, Copics
Accessories: PTI plum pudding ribbon, spellbinders ovals, PTI ornament die, TCP twine

Autumn Whimsy Tree

If there is one thing I miss about not living in Hawaii anymore its not having to rake leaves in the fall. Of course, growing up, I never did yardwork, except to drown my mother's potted plants so she wouldnt ask me to water them again.


So in honor of the impending raking leaves of doom, I brought out my Whimsy Tree plain jane from Verve. I intented to finish the October's VLV challenge, but I never got around to making the last card. This is the sketch from Week #1. I colored Whimsy in both greens and golden yellow colors for a more autumn feel.


The Dets:
Stamps: Verve Whimsy Tree, PTI Daily Design Sentiments
Paper: MB vanilla bean notecard, PTI dark chocolate, SEI moonrise
Ink: Memento black, canteloupe, Versafine black
Accessories: ribbon, TCP flower die, PTI harvest gold button, spellbinder ovals, mb jewels, divine twine

Tag, You're It

Shortie post here. This week's MFT's WSC was a tag challenge. I thought it'd be cute to use my new Lather Rinse Repeat PI stamp. I die cut the image in a large circle and curved the senti to fit the circle. I covered the bath tub w/ loads of glossy accents and sprinkled glitter on the bubbles. I used my circle nesties again to cut the whole for the topper to fit onto the bottle of shower gel.


Here's a close-up of the glossy goodness...

Well my civic duty is calling to me (gotta vote!)...

The Dets:

Stamps: MFT Pure Innocence Lather Rinse Repeat

Paper: MB notecard, MME beloved

Ink: Memento Black, Copics

Accessories: Spellbinder circles, glossy accents, MS glitter, PTI berry sorbet ribbon

Hello Pumpkin

So this weekend I had a brilliant idea to participate in October's Viva La Verve contest. Seriously, I think about doing it every month, its just as the weeks go by I think okay, maybe I'll start this weekend. And before I know it the month is over.

But this past weekend I decided to try. I started off with week two's sketch. When I saw it a few weeks back, I immediately thought of Hello Pumpkin. And since I already had my prismas out, after trying Jen's CA tutorial, I tried my hand again.

I ended up only finishing three of the four cards. Then realized that sketch two was to use Orange, Brown, Teal and White. So oh well. Maybe I'll try again next month.


The Dets:
Stamps: Verve Hello Pumpkin, Thankful Accents
Paper: MB mocha notecard, PTI summer sunrise, SEI dp
Ink: Memento brown, Prismas, Brilliance pearlescent chocolate
Accessories: Spellbinders labels three & circles, kaiser pearls, mb jewels

Rockstar SSSC

So last week on Club Anya, Jen had this ah-mazing tutorial on Prismacolor pencils. I dont know about you, but I've always had a hard time coloring w/ pencils. I think that's why I dig copics so much, blend alot better and cover nicely. But watching her tutorial, she made it look so easy!

So I unearthed my prismas from the depths of the "unused craft stuff" drawer. I found blending stumps at M's but I was at a loss for gamsol or OMS. I found turpenoid or something but the boy cautiously suggested that maybe I should go home and doublecheck before I go out acquiring toxic and flammable materials. And I heard some people have used Goo Gone and I knew I had that at home.

Can I just point out that Jen's video was alot like me watching an episode of SYTYCD. When I watch the dancers do all kinds of fun hip hop flips and tricks and think, that looks easy I could totally do that. But when it comes to actualizing...that's an entirely different story. Same with the color pencils. It wasnt a total disaster, like me trying to pop and lock might be, but it wasnt as flawless either. Of course I dont have nearly as much prisma colors as I do copics, so I was kind of limited as to what I could use for shading, hair, etc etc. But the blending stump didnt retain the chemical for as long, so it was a lot of rewetting and tediousness.

I used Karen's sketch, SSSC90, for the layout. But I left it unsentimented cause I'm not sure who this is going to. I did end up doing another card with a Verve stamp and prismas which went a little easier. So guess its the same theory as copics, practice practice practice.


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Rockstar Anya
Paper: PTI kraft, berry sorbet & lemon tart, Cosmo Cricket togetherness
Ink: Memento black, prismas
Accessories: MFT open scallops, TCP flower buttons, divine twine, PTI melon berry ribbon, spellbinder rectangles, stickles

Flirty Anya Friday

Happy (early) Friday! I've gotta say this has been a long week. A package I was expecting got lost in space. And it was full of brand new stamps, so you know how distressing that is. Plus I pulled my neck, so not so much crafting for me. But we're eating thai tonight. Oh. My. Goodness. Do you know how long I've been dying for some phad thai??? Its too bad the boy hates thai food due to a rather unpleasant experience with some homemade thai noodles...but I swear I followed the recipe exactly!

Anyway, on to the card. I have a slowly growing collection (again) of uninked stamps, yet I find myself drawn to Flirty Anya. So for Club Anya's Mystery Monday a few weeks back, I decided to use her for my CASE-d card. I paired her with some delish Cosmo Cricket papers and colored her dress in my favorite copic colors, BG72-78. I accented her flower w/ a spica glitter pen, but had a hard time trying to photograph the sparkles.

Oh! And if you'll notice, the kaiser jewels. They're actually clear but I colored them with my Copics. I didnt even know you could do that until I saw it on NH's blog. Man, all this time I've been wasting my money buying up all the kaiser jewel colors when I could've just been stockpiling clear...


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Flirty Anya, TCP You say its your birthday
Paper: MB vanilla bean notecard, PTI dark chocolate, Cosmo Cricket togetherness
Ink: Brilliance pearlescent chocolate, Memento black, Copics, Spica
Accessories: PTI harvest gold ribbon, spellbinders rectangles & circles, ek success notebook punch, kaiser jewels

WTG Treat

I think I'm in love with MFT's Trick or Treat with WTG. The image itself is super fun to color (although I still have trouble coloring chibi Flopsey). But the best part is playing around with the ground work. The first time, I tried my hand at a concrete sidewalk, but this time I opted for some hardwood flooring. I wish I had the patience to do some "wallpaper" but I'm way too lazy to paper piece a background. It'd be entirely too much cutting.

When I colored up the ghost, I wasnt really digging the end result. So I opted for my standard quick fix, when in doubt, dump glitter over everything. So it retained some of the color, but the chibi ghost is nice and sparkly now. I went over WTG's dress with some illuminate smooch and glossy accents over her bowl and shoes. You cant really tell but she's channeling her inner dark wizard and is all Slytherin this Halloween.

The Dets:
Stamps: MFT Trick or Treat with WTG, MB sentiment
Paper: PTI true black, Cosmo Cricket Matilda
Ink: Memento black, Copics, Spica
Accessories: MFT open scallop die, kaiser jewels, smooch illuminate, glossy accents, black felt, ribbon

Think {TCP} Pink

You only have to glance at my blog to figure out what my favorite color is. Pink obviously. But for some reason, the Think Pink TCP blog hop challenge had me stumped. Then I saw this Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC89, and thought the trio of penguins from Deck the Halls would be perfect.

I colored up the penguins in copics and finished off the card with a few October Afternoon papers I had in my stash. I also used a few strips of glue tape to lay down two glitter layers on my dp. Its not quite as sparkly as I envisioned, but perhaps its because my tape is rather old. Guess I'll have to put glue tape on my never ending list of "craft needs."

The Dets:
Stamps: TCP Deck the Halls
Papers: MB mocha notecard, PTI berry sorbet, October Afternoon very merry, ducks in a row
Ink: Memento black, Copics
Accessories: MS punch, PTI hawaiian shores buttons

Crazy Toxic

I've been dying to get my hands on the brand new Sweet & Toxic set from TGF. There's just something about the edginess of the Creeper Crew that appeals to my inner punk child. And because I was bored with using my Matilda papers (even though I still like it) I brought out my Pixie-licious papers and went for a more funky color scheme.

In retrospect, I may have gone a bit overboard with all the super bright colors...

But in my defense, this is a non-trad halloween card going to my pal, T. And when she was in college, she dyed her hair blue. But in case you dont know, when blue fades on our hair it turns more green. So this might be a slightly accurate depiction of her hair....or not.


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Sweet & Toxic
Paper: PTI true black, DCWV la creme, Cosmo Cricket pixie-licious
Ink: Memento black & new sprout, Copics, Spica
Accessories: TCP flower dies, ek success jewels, spellbinder rectangles, MFT open scallop dies, MS glittler, glossy accents

Happy Bellarific Friday

Wow...talk about drama last night. I havent been that excited for a PTI release in a long time. Which of course meant that I had to be stuck to my computer by 8:30 and promptly started freaking out when the website was having issues. After lots of aggrivated screaming and computer restarts, I finally got my order in. Yay!

But anyway...enough ranting. Onto the card.

This week's Stamping Bella's theme was anything Ketto. And Ketto just happens to be my all time favorite of the SB line. When I pulled out my Ketto case, I conveniently had this Kenya Ketto die cut and embossed. It was fate. So I colored her up in Copics and since I need like a dozen more hallos cards, I pulled out my Matilda papers. For the layout, I used this week's Sweet Stop Sketch, SSS77.


The Dets:
Stamps: Stamping Bella Kenya Ketto, MB senti
Paper: PTI kraft & true black, SU!, Cosmo Cricket matilda
Ink: Copics, Brilliance graphite black
Accessories: Spellbinder circles & ribbon tags, Cuttlebug polka dots folders, PTI orange zest buttons, TCP linen thread, ribbon, kaiser pearls

A Ghostly TCP

It's TCP Tuesday on (a week late) Thursday. Last week's challenge, TCPTUES129, was a sketch challenge made by the original Cat Packer, Alma. When I saw the long panel I knew I just had to incorporate the little ghosts from Fright Night.

I stamped them on kraft (again), and colored their little ties w/ copics. They looked a bit flat so I went over them (twice) with my "outline" copic color (B60). Then I stamped the bats and covered them w/ glossy accents. I didnt have any orange saddle stitch ribbon (maybe on my next PTI order) so I opted for some yellow.

Before I sign off, I needs to get my Glee on. Hehe...I love that new kid, whatever his name is with the Bieber haircut. And him and Quinn are so cute. But my evil side cant wait to see some Puck-getting-jealous action either.

The Dets:
Stamps: TCP Fright Night
Paper: PTI true black & kraft, DCWV la creme, Cosmo Cricket matilda
Ink: Memento black, Copics
Accessories: Spellbinders rectangles & circles, PTI orange zest buttons, PTI harvest gold ribbon, kaiser jewels, glossy accents, MFT open scallop dies

Flirty Monday

Its that time again. Gone is the warm sunny days (even though this summer wasnt all that warm). Instead we've got the hazy, rainy days. But the one silver lining among these grey thunder clouds that perpetually cover my house...pretty fall colors. And no I'm not talking nature, I'm talking paper. I love the browns, gold, dark blues and, more recently, the terracotta tile-esque colors of the new fall pattern papers.

This card was the result of a CASE challenge on last week's Club Anya Mystery Monday. I paired up my new Flirty Anya with some pretty fall BG papers. What I love most about Flirty is how super easy she is to cut out. No complex braids, pony tails, etc etc to maneuver around. Its all curves. Yay!

You can barely see it, but I tied some divine twine around the blue panel and topped it off w/a button. I stamped the sentiment from a Pure Innocence set b/c go figure, I couldn't find a single happy retirement sentiment in my entire cache of stamps.


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Flirty Anya, MFT Pure Innocence 4 Leaf Clover
Paper: PTI dark chocolate, Basic Grey pyrus
Ink: Memento Black, Copics, Spica
Accessories: MS punch, circle nesties, divine twine, PTI terracotta tile button

Witchy Mojo

I've been seriously behind on my halloween cards. So when I saw this week's Mojo Monday Sketch, MOJO159, it was a definite no brainer to team it up with my TCP's Fright Night. I decided to stamp the witch and her cauldron on kraft and color them both with copics. I used my spica glitter pens for the ghoulish potion she's mixing up as well as for the fire.

For the sentiment, I added two little jewels to the dots in the middle and popped it up with some foam squares. I tried my hand at a double bow, but it makes for a very bulky card.

The Dets:
Stamps: TCP Fright Night
Paper: MB licorice notecard, PTI kraft, Cosmo Cricket matilda
Ink: Memento black, white gel pen, Copics, Spica
Accessories: Ribbon, PTI orange zest button, divine twine, MB jewels, MFT scallop border, spellbinder circles

Winter Wishes

I had intended to use this image for an MFT challenge a week or so ago called Make a Scene. Unfortunately, real life got in the way and never quite finished. So when I came across the image again, I thought it'd be perfect from Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC87.

I got this digi, WTG Baby Its Cold, a while back but never got it colored up. And because it was a digi, it makes it rather difficult to paper piece. So I colored her in copics. I thought it looked a bit too plain so I colored up the sky as well. Then I used my MS glitter and glitterfied the entire hill. It's really sparkly but my camera skills leave a bit to be desired.

The Dets:

Stamps: MFT WTG Baby its cold, TCP Deck the Halls, PTI Tin Types Background

Paper: MB licorice notecard, PTI berry sorbet, Lilybee christmas town

Ink: Versafine black, Copics, Versamark

Accessories: MFT open scallops die, oval nesties, MS glitter, stickles

Dressin' Up

This week's MFT's WSC challenge was to get all Dressed Up. I thought this WTG featuring a bonus chibi Flopsey would be super cute and totally fit the bill. I stamped it image out and colored it in Copics. Then I added the glitzy bits. I glossed up the bowl, their pumpkin heads and, of course, her Slytherin green shoes. Then I figured WTG needed a bit of glam as well, so I used some iridescent glitter over her dress.

I used this week's SFYTT for the layout. I stamped a panel of cardstock w/ the sentiment then added some candy treats in matching orange. I went over a few of the candies w/ an orange spica pen, but it didnt come out too well in the photo.


The Dets:
Stamps: MFT Trick or Treat w/ WTG, TCP Fright Night
Paper: MB licorice notecard, PTI orange zest & simply chartreuse, Cosmo Cricket matilda
Ink: Memento black, Copics, Spica glitter pen, Brilliance graphite black
Accessories: PTI orange zest button, divine twine, TCP flower button dies, PTI true black ribbon, MS glitter, glossy accents

Spooky Banner

To celebrate Halloween, because I really dont have any halloween decos (except for this one bowl that says happy halloween that we leave out all year round anyway) I decided to make another banner. I fully dig banners b/c its one of the only times I break out my cricut.

I used my Spooktacular set from TGF. I cut out the letters w/ my Storybook cartridge and dumped MS black glitter over it all. So it's all very nice and glittery. Then I spaced each one w/ a bow topped w/ a big PTI button. You see I have a ton of these huge PTI buttons and I have no idea what to use them for. They're a bit too big for cards, so if you have any suggestions I'm all ears.

I took all the madness that was on our fridge (like the birth announcement of a boy who's now 4)and pinned it up w/ clips. Okay that's not entirely true, most of the madness simply got relocated to beneath the banner. The picture's bit unpolished because it took forever to get a decent shot. But it makes my kitchen look nice and halloweenish.


Since I couldnt get a very good picture of it hanging up, I have a close-up of the letters:

The Dets:

Stamps: TGF Spooktacular

Paper: SU!, Basic Grey eerie

Ink: Memento black, Copics

Accessories: Cricut storybook, polka dots embossing folder, MS onyx glitter, PTI orange zest buttons, black ribbon

Hallos Treats

With all the new tv premieres this week, I've barely found time (or motivation) to stamp. But Alice had this super cute (and simple) treat holder tutorial at Club Anya that I just had to try.

I inked up my Bride of Nico Anya from Spooktacular and colored her up in copics. I used a slightly smaller piece of cardstock to make a square shaped treat holder (rather than a rectangle). Then die cut circle nesties to create a window.

The Dets:

Stamps: TGF Spooktacular

Paper: black cardstock, DCWV glitter matstack, Basic Grey eerie

Ink: Memento black, Copics

Accessories: Spellbinders circles, sizzix flourish die, PTI orange zest, divine twine, ribbon

Happy Glee Day

I've been waiting about three very long months for this, but it's finally here. Tonight is the night. That's right, the season premiere of Glee is on. Yay! I wanted to make a special Gleek card but my muse has left the building. I think she might have been stolen. If you've seen my muse, could you please let me know?

So the gals at CMC have done it again. Amy's put up another superly awesome straight hair tutorial. Doesnt it make you just so envious at the ease at which some of these smashing women can color hair w/ a few flicks of the pen? I tried my hand at her style but I was having much difficulty w/ the longer line flicks of the pen to simulate the strands of the hair. I sadly destroyed two other Dressy Ebony's before I caved and tried a different hair color (those E40's just seem to hate me).

I added some glossy accents to her pendant and hair flower. Then I put some illuminate all over her jacket and edging of her dress. Only I was having major issues with getting a good detail shot. Bummer.

The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Dressy Ebony, PTI daily design sentiments
Paper: MB mocha notecard, Cosmo Cricket pixie-licious, Stardream lapis lazuli
Ink: Brilliance pearlescent chocolate, Copics,
Accessories: MFT scalloped border, PTI melon berry buttons & ribbon, spellbinders labels eight & ovals, smooch illuminate, glossy accents, kaiser pearls

Farm Friday

So I finally decided to get some semblance of organization with my crafts. I got this super cool card holder and now its got all my preprinted digis (and a few stamped images) sorted by company. And wouldnt you know, there were quite a few digis I totally forgot I had. TGF's Audrey here is one of them.

On last week's episode of Club Anya Tootin' Wednesday, Traci (who rocked a super cute haircut that made me miss my short hair) was all about making Pleats and Ruffles. It seems kinda contridictory now that I think about it, but I decided to use the least girly TGF image I own with a girly technie such a pleats. But I am nothing if not vastly contridictory.

I colored her up in copics. Then I pulled out my new cosmo cricket pack, before it too got lost in my Craft Shelf of No Return. I really wanted to use one of my new Kids Quotes (particularly the "How man fingers are you now?" line) but I just couldnt find a way to make it fit on the card. I really gotta learn to not die cut my images until I figure out the layout. Maybe I'll stamp the quote on the inside.


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF WS Audrey, PTI daily designs sentiments
Paper: MB notecard, Cosmo Cricket togetherness
Ink: Copics, Versafine black
Accessories: ribbon, oval nesties, kaiser pearls

Framed Faves

So this past weekend I discovered that my LSS, or rather LCS, has fairly nice quality black felt. I've been dying for some ever since my friend got some PTI black felt in our last order. And once I had some of that delish black felt in my hot little hands I couldnt resist die cutting a slew of black flowers and borders. But you see, I didnt really have a purpose for them I just wanted them.

Finally, after I had rather pretty mountain of black embellies on my tiny craft table, the boy pointed out that I should probably use a few. I suppose he didnt quite see the point of having a oh-so-pretty pile of black felt flowers if I wasnt actually going to use them. So I brought out a few of my favorites. My current favorite dp, Basic Grey Olivia, my fave senti set Signature Greetings and my brand new MFT Framed Greetings.

As you can probably tell, if you've seen any other cards on my blog, I'm rather obsessed with MFT's open scallop die borders (in black felt of course). But I'm fairly sure this is the last of them. That is until I cut another mountain of them.



Thus ends a very long winded explanation of a rather little card.

The Dets:
Stamps: MFT Framed Greetings, PTI Signature Greetings
Paper: PTI true black, Basic Grey olivia
Ink: Versafine black
Accessories: Spellbinders circles, MFT open scallop border, PTI flowers, PTI Aqua Mist button, ribbon, felt

Super Late Sketchie Saturday

So I finished this card last week, posted it to the Greeting Farm gallery and totally forgot to post it here. Oops. I might have been distracted by all the super awesome sneak peaks going on (TCP, PTI, TGF...how's a girl to choose???).

Anyway, last week's Club Anya Saturday Sketch was the dreaded round card. I think I've only done a few before. On one hand, I like them because they're tiny so I have to worry about filling in alot of extras. On the other hand, they're tiny. And obviously I had no problem adding extra embellies to this one. What can I say, Pretty Hat Anya just sorta demands it.

I added a bunch of glossy accents to her necklace, but it didnt come out to well in the picture. I've been seen these fabulous blinged out flourishes on people's cards lately but the prices for one or two of them have been pretty steep. I had some normal pearls on hand so I placed them in a haphazard, flourshy type fashion.


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Pretty Hat Anya
Paper: PTI sweet blush, vellum, Basic Grey olivia
Ink: Memento black, Copics
Accessories: PTI flower dies, spellbinder circles, MFT open scallop border, glossy accents, divine twine, BG black button, kaiser pearls

A long time coming...Mojo Monday

Have you ever had one of those cards in which you know the basic outline, how you want the card to look...but then it takes forever just to execute? Either the details just aren't quite right, or the mix of paper you chose isn't exactly what you first envisioned?

This card was most definitely one of them. I loved this week's Mojo Monday Sketch, MOJO155. So much so I actually started on Monday, seems like forever ago now. But I got stuck. Then of course I got distracted with The Clockwork Angel. And now it's almost a week later (the book's over) and the card pieces were still on my desk.

It came out to be fairly close to what was in my head, but I'm still not quite sure. I am excited b/c its been forever since I've inked up any of my Verve stamps. But this set, Thankful Accents, is definitely one of my favorites.

The Dets:

Stamps: Verve Thankful Accents

Paper: PTI true black & summer sunrise, SEI moonrise

Ink: Versafine black

Accessories: Spellbinder circles, MFT open scallop border, ribbon, felt, kaiser jewels

Something Blue...

This week's MFT Wednesday challenge was Back to School Blues. Now I havent had the back to school blues in longer than I care to admit. But I feel for my pal the 8th Grade Math Teacher, Mr. O, who had to go back to school this week. Yeah right, I totally feel for the him because he had the whole summer off, whilst I worked the whole summer... Me bitter? Of course not.

Anyway, I didnt have any school related MFT stamps, but I did have this Birthday Flopsey I have been dying to ink up. And of course I had to use my new favorite "boy" paper, Oliver from Basic Grey. I just love the blue & green combo. Especially when I discovered that PTI's enchanted evening matches perfectly. Then later sadly discovered that I had to use the last of it on this card. Bummer.



The Dets:
Stamps: MFT Birthday Flopsey
Paper: PTI true black, simply chartreuse & enchanted evening, Basic Grey oliver
Ink: Memento black, PTI snow white, Copics
Accessories: Spellbinders circles & rectangles, MFT scallop dies, cuttlebug small polka dots, PTI enchanted evening ribbon, Impress glitter

Curly Hair Experiment

If you've been trolling the blogs then you must have come across the Color Me Copic blog. Its run by five rockin' color-ers (in my opinion). The only bad thing about the blog is that it's inspired me to add all kinds of copics colors to my "wish" list (as if that wasnt long enough already...). But it's full of all kinds of useful reference information and, as of late, super cool techniques. The lastest one is Amy's Curly Hair tutorial. It was so neat looking that I just had to try.

I dont have too many curly haired stamps (probably a reason for that - they're hard to color). But I did have this Sweet November Darby stamp, which I've only inked up once. I went w/ red hair, but I think I need try this curly hair "squiggle" thing a few more times. I used this week's SFYTT, though it was alot of rearranging of layers before I decided to go w/ the landscape orientation.


The Dets:
Stamps: CC Designs Sweet November Darby, MFT Flopsey Birthday sentiment
Paper: PTI dark chocolate & ripe avocado, Cosmo Cricket nutmeg
Ink: Brilliance pearlescent chocolate, Memento black, Copics
Accessories: polka dot embossing folder, felt, kaiser jewels, MFT open scallop border, spellbinders circles, PTI butterfly die

Clean & Simple TESC

If there's one thing I envy (and if we're being honest here there's alot of things I envy) its Nichole Heady's talent for making this super awesome cards using just a black pen and ruler. Never underestimate the difficulty of drawing a straight and even line w/ a pen. I had to do it three times before I came up with something that was okay. But then I've got this hate/hate relationship w/ rulers in general...

But I digress.

When I saw this week's Taylored Sketch, TESC126, I immediately thought of my PTI Take Three Summer set. As of late, my poor PTI sets havent seen the wet side of an inkpad in forever. I punched three squares in my current fave PTI colors (b/c I'm so fickle my "current faves" change constantly) then stamped each of the flowers in black ink. I topped them w/ coordinating buttons before mounting them.

Its fairly clean and simple for me. Definitely a change-up from what I had been doing. And I'm still not quite sure what the sentiment is supposed to be for either. Maybe its a condolence? Going away? I just thought looked pretty...

The Dets:
Stamps: PTI Take Three Summer
Ink: Brilliance graphite black
Paper: MB licorice notecard, PTI hawaiian shores, simply chartreuse and pure poppy
Accessories: PTI hs/sc/pp buttons, copic mutliliner

Simply...Sasuke?

Have you seen the brand new Back to School Emo's from Simply Betty Stamps? I first saw these Emo kids on Amy's blog and was instantly in love. They've got a bit of an edge to them, but are totally cute too. And when I saw Back to School Miller, I knew instantly I had to have him. Why? He's got Sasuke's hair. Eeee! Dont you just love it????

(Sidenote: for those of you that dont know whom I'm referring to, he's a character on Naruto, a 'toon the boy used to watch. Yes yes, I know, he's like a totally baddie now, but he was so cute as kid, tortured but cute....)

I was super excited that Simply Betty has come out w/ a challenge blog, cause you know I just {heart} challenges (how else do I get the motivation to play w/ my stamps?). This week's challenge was to create a funny emo card. I cracked up when I saw Miller/Sasuke's expression. Doesnt he just look like he realized something mind boggling? So to beef up my "boy card" stash, I brought out some new boyish papers. I colored Miller up in copics. I was trying something different with his hair. But I dont think I like it, so I'll probably go back to my norm.

The Dets:
Stamps: Simply Betty Miller Back to School, TCP Smells Like Cake
Paper: PTI simply chartreuse & enchanted evening, Basic Grey oliver
Ink: Brilliance graphite black, Copics
Accessories: Spellbinders rectangles & circles, PTI enchanted evening ribbon & buttons, TCP twine

Floral Fantasy

My Umbrella has got to be my favoritest Pure Innocence girl I've got and yet I have issues using her. But the other night I thought it'd be really pretty to get a different take on her umbrella. Maybe it was wishful thinking for spring as opposed to dreary fall, but I thought it'd be cool to break out some of my old punches and have a bunch of sakura like blossoms falling around her.

I think I went a bit overboard on the blossoms. But I think it fits with this week's MFT WSC of Floral Fantasy. I dont know about you guys, but there's a house in our neighborhood with a huge cherry tree. When it blooms its soo pretty and then the petals start to die its petals go everywhere.

The Dets:
Stamps: MFT Pure Innocence My Umbrella, TCP Hearts & Flowers, Impress cherry tree branch
Paper: PTI true black, origami paper
Ink: Memento black, pear tart, bamboo leaves & summer sky, Spica glitter pen, Brilliance pearlescent chocolate
Accessories: flower punches, spellbinder ovals

Playing w/ Texture...

Every so often its cool to learn a new tip. Or trick. So when this week's CA "Toot" featured a really cool vid by Kelly about creating texture, I was intrigued.

I colored up my brand new Cupcake Anya (I could not resist the cuteness and absolutely had to have her). She's one of the only digis I own, but I must admit I think I'm a convert. I wanted to try making her dress look sort of denim-like, so I colored it up in my BG70's. Then I used a scrap piece of fabric, added a few drops of my colorless blender solution and lightly pressed into the colored area. Its really really faint but I didnt want to bleed it too much.

I used this week's Mercy Sketch, MTSC88. But its amazing I even finished this card as I picked up Mockingjay from the library last night. Finished it a little why ago but dont ask me. I dont want to talk about it. My head is still vaguely lost in Sucksville, Panem.


Here's a detail shot. Perhaps if you squint and imagine (or just stare, unblinkingly for a really long time) you can vaguely make out the "texture" of her dress...


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Cupcake Anya, TCP Forget about the cake
Paper: MB notecard, PTI ocean tides, MME so sophie, Oct Afternoon thrift shop
Ink: Versafine black, Copics, spica glitter pen
Accessories: ribbon, spellbinders rectangles

A Monstah SFYTT

I've used my Stamping Bella Monstah Bash all of twice since I bought it. And both cards I used the exact same dp paper pack (see??). So when I showed the boy this card he said, wow its not green and blue.

I'm kinda shocked he remembers...

So it was a feat for me to think outside the box for this one. I wanted to keep it a bit unisex. Or that was before I added the rhinestones & bow. But hey at least the blue is like a dirty, boy blue right? I found a dp pattern that I liked but decided it would look much better w/ more kraft than white. I've seen a bunch of super awesome stampers do cards on kraft cardstock but I've never been that adventurous. But I figured the worst that can happen is that I dont like it and scrap it.

So I stamped the little monstahs in memento and colored them up in copics. I used Jen's SFYTT for the layout. I really dig how she layers colored circles instead of just putting brads or jewels down. But I just dont have small enough circle punches. Guess that means I'll have to go out and buy some right? *g*


The Dets:
Stamps: Stamping Bella Monstah Bash, TCP You say its your birthday
Paper: PTI scarlett jewel, terracotta tile & kraft, Stardream gold, Basic Grey whiskers & max
Ink: Memento black, Brilliance black, Copics, white gel pen
Accessories: Polka dots folder, spellbinders curved rectangles & circles, kaiser jewels & pearls, PTI ocean tides ribbon

A Fruit Filled Challenge

So this week's ATS challenge was all about fruit. Either fruit in your dp or stamps or something. I completely forgot to think outside the box and that my Kiki has a wee little cherry on top her ice cream cone. But I wanted to ink up my Mushroom Friends anyway. Does a mushroom count as a fruit?

Probably not.

So I got out my Cosmo Cricket garden variety paper pack just to be on the safe side. Imagine my dismay when there was only one sheet that really had fruit. But I decided what the heck (b/c I also didnt have any other plans for it). I stamped up the lil' shroom bunny and colored him (or her) in copics. I think the brown's a bit too dark but oh well. I thought long and hard about what sentiment I wanted to use. Well to be honest it was more of a "what sentiment will fit in the little panel that I already cut and sponged." Then inspiration struck when I came across my freebie MFT road trip set. Its a little off the wall but totally fits my humor I suppose (randomness).


The Dets:
Stamps: CC Designs Mushroom Friends, MFT Clearly Sentimental about Summer Vacation
Paper: MB vanilla bean notecard, Cosmo Cricket garden variety
Ink: Memento black, summer sky, pear tart & bamboo leaves, copics
Accessories: PTI pure poppy ribbon, divine twine, spellbinders labels one, kaiser pearls

TCP Blog Hop

When I saw Taylor's sketch a couple weeks ago, I knew I wanted to do a card with my TCP's Fun in the Sun set. I imagined floatie sprinkles (whom I've adored but never inked) covered in a layer of glossy accents to make everything shiney.

To go with the fun summer theme, I brought out CC's delovely paper pack. The colors in this pack are so bright, they simply screech summer. I cut out and colored both poochie w/a surfboard and floatie sprinkles. Then added a whole bunch of glossy accents to their respective wave catchers. Originally I die cut a scalloped border, but I totally liked the ric rak look so I stuck with it.

This is going to a coworker who's also from Hawaii (but we're from different islands) so I think she' appreciate the slightly beachy theme.


The Dets:
Stamps: TCP Fun in the Sun, You say its your birthday
Paper: PTI black, Cosmo Cricket delovely
Ink: Memento black, Versafine black, Copics, Spica glitter pens
Accessories: PTI xlg ric rak, spellbinders circles, divine twine, glossy accents, felt

Bookmark 3.0

I'm here with yet another bookmark. When I asked N if she wanted another bookmark, she responded instantly with a yes. And the stamp she wanted...TCP's Forget about the cake. How birthday bunny cake & a bookmark are connected in her head, I'll never know. But since it got me to accomplish my summer time mission (I've got zero uninked stamps - yee-haw!!), who am I to complain?

I pulled out a sheet of my current fave dp, BG's olivia. I totally dig the greys, pinks, blues and greens in its color scheme. I die cut various shapes of my PTI flower dies in a mix of both felt and paper. Then I stamped and colored the bunny cake. I decided to use some MS iridescent glitter for some glitzy frosting. And since its a bookmark and I know how N loves to keep her books pristine, I covered the glitter w/ a layer of glossy accents. This way they hopefully wont shed glitter all over Mockingjay.

The Dets:

Stamps: TCP's Forget about the cake

Ink: Copics, Memento black, DCWV spring glitter stack

Paper: PTI black, Basic Grey olivia

Accessories: PTI flower dies, spellbinders circles & long rectangles, glossy accents, MS iridescent glitter, felt, bg buttons, black thread, circle punch, eyelet

Patchwork Penguins

This week's episode of TCP Tuesday, TCPTUES123, was to use any beverage stamp. And what better stamp than to use the teacup penguins??? As soon as I saw these little guys in the preview week of TCP's latest release, I knew immediately I had to have them. They're just tooo cute w/ their little paper hats and makeshift boat. And with the snarky lil' sentiment "Ship Happens" how is it even an option not to get it???

The layout was something I thought up of at like 11:45pm the other night, whilst I was trying to go to sleep. Suffice to say I had to break out my notepad and jot it down. I punched out a bunch of squares from an old Memory Box paper pack. Its nice to know that I still occasionally use old supplies. I colored up the penguins and added some random sparkles in the form of spritz shimmers and spica glitter pens. And glossed up the water drops w/ some glossy accents because I cant make a card without it. I topped it of w/ the superly awesome sentiment and a little PTI button.

Close-up of the sparkley & glossy goodness...

The Dets:

Stamps: TCP Ship Happens

Paper: PTI dark chocolate, Memory box sweetbay paper pack

Ink: Copics, Memento black, Versafine black, spica glitter pens

Accessories: square punch, glossy accents, shimmerz sparkle, smooch illuminate, PTI aqua mist button, krafters floss, PTI spring moss ribbon

A New Challenge

I am finally down to only two uninked stamp sets left in my cache, so my summer mission is coming along quite nicely. Alot of it was thanks to this new challenge blog I stumbled upon, Christmas Stampin' All Year Round. If not for this week's nifty little challenge of using two different dps, poor Christmas-y Nora might still be sitting in the uninked pile.

I inked up Nora and then die cut her in a circle to fit into my card. I daubered the edges with some memento ink, then finished coloring her in copics. Normally I go with blonde hair, but I'm trying to branch out. Bear with me here because it seems like I still need to get the hang of the brunette...

I topped her off with some glossy accents on all her buttons and earrings. Then I paper pieced her scarf and added some stickles to the snowflakes. I ended up using Mercy's Tuesday Sketch, MTSC87, b/c it fit perfectly. I love the layers Mercy incorporates into her cards.


The Dets:
Stamps: CC Designs Swiss Pixie Nora
Paper: PTI scarlett jewel, Basic Grey eskimo kisses
Ink: Copics, Spica glitter pen, Memento black & summer sky
Accessories: Spellbinders circles, snowflake embossing folder, glossy accents, stickles stardust, M's ribbon

Double T

You know how sometimes you see a sketch and you totally know you want to try it out (b/c it's so awesome) but you only have a vague idea of how you want to execute? Well this week's Taylored Sketch, TESC124, was just like that.

I totally dug the sketch as soon as I saw it, which is strange b/c I rarely make odd sized cards. Originally I had planned to use my TCP's Fun in the Sun set, but my Fright Night, which has been uninked since I got it last year, was looking forlorn. So I colored up a few of the images and cut them out. Then I die cut about a dozen different circles and scalloped circles before coming to a combination I dug.

Perhaps I'll retry the sketch using Fun in the Sun...

The Dets:
Stamps: TCP Fright Night
Paper: PTI black, cream, SU!, DCVW spring glitter stack, Basic Grey eerie
Ink: Copics, Memento black, Spica gold glitter pen
Accessories: PTI xlg ric rak, spellbinders big scalloped & standard circles and rectangles, kaiser jewels, divine twine

Two Birds, One...Card

So this week's episode of TCP Tuesday, TCPTUES121, was a color challenge. Carole Burrage, who I'm sooo excited to see back w/ the Cat Pack, had this lovely color combo of denim, kraft and candy apple red. I searched high and low for a dp pack set that might do but just couldnt find any with both navy and red. Then I realized that one of my fav non-girly PTI colors, enchanted evening, would most likely fit the bill for denim.

I stamped out the Hearts & Flowers set, that I've shamelessly horded since last Thanksgiving. I also brought out my brand spankin' new, just delivered PTI ribbon and buttons. I absolutely love their saddle-stitch ribbon. Its soo yummy. And just like my chica, N, I have this compulsion to collect them all.

Mercy's Sketch, MTS86, fit perfectly for my image. Though as you can see I tweaked it just a bit (mostly b/c I had to put my brand new buttons in there somewhere).

The Dets:

Stamps: TCP Hearts & Flowers

Ink: Memento black, bamboo leaves, pear tart, summer sky, danube blue, Copics

Paper: PTI kraft & enchanted evening, vellum, Cosmo Cricket garden variety

Accessories: polka dots embossing folder, spellbinder rectangles, PTI enchanted evening buttons, MS bakers twine, PTI pure poppy ribbon

Bellarific Friday

Wow...two posts in less than 24-hours. Must be some sorta record.

I was super super excited when I finally got my Scrapbooking Alley order (3 days late mind you). Not only did it include a little bottle of smooch illuminate (which I've been forever trying to find at my LSS) but it also had big scalloped spellbinders! I've been seeing it (and drooling) all over blog land and I just had to get me some.

So this week's Bellarific Friday theme was bling. And who better to showcase fantastical bling than lil' miss Addy'tude herself. I had a moment of weakness last weekend at my LSS and was compulsed to buy the new BG Olivia pack. Particularly for the pattern below. After I stamped and colored her, I topped it on top one of those superly awesome big scalloped rectangles. Then since the theme was bling I added jewels to each...scalloped dip(?).

I added a bit of smooch illuminate to her scarf and some glossy accents to her eye glasses, earrings and, of course, shoes. I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch, MOJO151, because it fit perfectly. Finally, I topped it all off with a sentiment that was just made for Addy'tude (even though they're from different companies it was meant to be).


Close up of the sparkle & glossiness...



The Dets:
Stamps: Stamping Bella Addy'tude, TCP Birthday Bunny
Ink: Copics, Spica glitter pen, Memento tuxedo black & angel pink
Paper: PTI black & smokey shadow, Basic Grey olivia paper pack
Accessories: Spellbinders big scalloped rectangles & rectangles, ribbon, kaiser jewels, glossy accents, kaiser pearls

This is my confession...

I'm an insanely lazy stamper. Why do you ask? Well I'm sorta lazy in general, though I like to call it efficient with my energy. So in trying to conserve energy I end up not putting things away. Which leads to repeating themes in my card. Because you know...its right there.

Case in point. You might feel a bit of deja vu with this card. I used Ruby for my TGF Anniversary Blog Hop. So when I was trying to figure out my card for this week's CA Monday Mania, Ruby was still sitting there. So I inked her up and colored her in copics. I went with a purple-y theme because I had some Kioshi paper (conveniently sitting on my desk...).

Then I broke out a few of my beloved PTI buttons because this week's challenge is a super awesome button challenge by Sheng. And I soo heart my buttons (even though it causes issues when mailing). I used this week's Taylored Expressions Sketch, TESC123. And doesnt she have the most super fabulous sketches?


The Dets:
Stamps: TGF Ruby, PTI Take Three Summer
Paper: MB notecard, Basic Grey kioshi, DCWV latte mat stack
Ink: Memento black, lulu lavender, pear tart and bamboo leaves, Copics
Accessories: PTI med scalloped border, spellbinders labels eight & circles, PTI plum pudding buttons, ribbon, prima flower, TCP linen thread